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BERKELEY.  CALIFORNIA 

ENGLISH  PRONUNCIATION 

^    FOR   FOREIGNERS/         JL 

i- 


By 

.,       JAN  20  19o4  (\; 
SARAH  T.  /B ARRQW^ -c^0imlA 

State  Teachers  College,  San  Francisco,  California 


Published  by 

THE  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 
O^VCALIFORNIA 

DIVISION  OF  IMMIGRANT  EDUCATION  i 


Music  by  Mrs.  Mary  McCauley 
Drawings  by  Miss  Olive  Johnson 

Both  of 
State  Teachers  College,    San  Francisco 


CALIFORNIA    STATE    PRINTING    OFFICE. 
SACRAMENTO,   1922 


18236 


FIGURE  1. 


1.  Nasal  cavity. 

2.  Alveole. 

3.  Hard  palate. 
i.   Soft  palate. 


5.  Uvula. 

6.  Epiglottis. 

7.  Larynx. 

8.  Vocal  chords. 


I  d  oki-fe^^  * 
INTRODUCTION 

The  foreigner  finds  English  pronunciation  difficult  because  he  has 
acquired,  through  years  of  speaking  his  native  tongue,  not  only  fixed 
habits  of  using  his  organs  of  speech,  but  habits  of  hearing  speech  sounds. 
When  he  hears  a  new  sound  he  tries  to  recognize  in  it  one  of  his  own 
sounds.  Thus  he  says  "dis"  for  "this"  because  to  his  ears  they  sound 
alike. 

It  is  important  therefore  that  the  pupil  hear  the  English  words 
correctly ;  and  the  teacher  may  help  him  to  do  this  if  she  will  show  him 
the  movements  of  the  lips  and  tongue  that  produce  the  sound,  for  our 
eyes  are  better  trained  than  our  ears  to  distinguish  differences.  The 
pupil  will  hear  the  sounds  more  accurately,  the  more  closely  to  his  ear 
they  are  pronounced. 

If  words  containing  difficult  sounds  are  not  taught  until  the  sounds 
themselves  have  been  mastered,  the  task  of  learning  to  pronounce  the 
words  will  be  easier.  The  pupil  should  also  have  the  opportunity  of 
hearing  each  word  pronounced  accurately  and  distinctly  many  times 
before  he  attempts  to  utter  it  himself;  and  the  teacher  should  guard 
against  the  impulse  to  repeat  the  pupil's  mistakes,  lest  she  strengthen 
him  in  his  wrong  habits. 

The  teacher  will  need  to  analyze  very  carefully  each  word  to  ascertain 
just  what  sounds  actually  are  contained  in  it,  for  English  spelling  is 
often  misleading  rather  than  helpful  in  the  determination  of  correct 
pronunciation.  Thus  the  pronunciation  of  "handkerchief"  according 
to  its  spelling  leads  to  error;  a  better  spelling  would  be  "hangker- 
chif."  "Roses"  and  "doses"  look  more  alike  than  they  sound;  as 
do  war  and  far,  fury  and  bury,  rough  and  cough. 

The  teacher  will  find  a  study  of  her  own  speech  organs  and  their 
movements  during  speech  very  helpful.  With  mirror  in  hand  she 
should  observe  carefully  how  she  forms  each  speech  sound ;  and  by 
watching  her  pupil's  lips  she  can  often  discover  the  mechanical  reason 
for  his  mispronunciations. 

In  the  following  study  of  English  sounds  are  included  only  those 
which  offer  difficulty  to  foreigners.  The  descriptions  of  the  sounds  are 
not  supposed  to  prescribe  the  only  correct  way  to  utter  the  sounds,  but 
to  offer  the  foreigner  a  recipe,  which  if  followed  will  enable  him  to 
produce  the  sounds  correctly. 

r 
2—18236 


English  Pronunciation 
CONSONANTS 


Consonants  are  formed  by  a  stoppage  of  the  breath  in  some  part  of 
the  mouth.  The  stoppage  may  be  complete  as  in  p,  t,  k,  b,  d,  g,  in  which 
case  the  air  escapes  with  an  explosive  sound  when  the  mouth  is  suddenly 
opened;  or  it  may  be  incomplete,  as  in  s,  sh,  z,  f,  v,  1,  r,  th,  in  which 
case  the  air  rubs  against  the  sides  of  the  narrow  channel,  issuing  from 
the  mouth  with  audible  friction.  In  the  case  of  m,  n,  ng,  the  mouth  is 
completely  blocked  and  the  air  escapes  through  the  nose. 

th ;  two  sounds  as  in  thin,  this 

Articulation.  Place  the  tongue  between  the  teeth,  the  upper  edge  of 
the  tongue  resting  against  the  inner  edges  of  the  upper  front  teeth. 
In  teaching  foreigners  it  may  be  necessary  to  protrude  the  tongue 
visibly.  For  th  in  thin  the  vocal  cords  do  not  vibrate;  they  vibrate 
for  th  in  this. 

Probable  mistakes.  For  th  in  thin  may  be  used :  s,  t,  or  f ;  for  th  in 
this :  z,  d,  v. 

All  nationalities  except  Greek  will  have  difficulty  with  th. 


FIG.  2.     Diagram  to  show  the  position  of  the  tongue  in  the  formation  of  th. 

li  as  in  hat 

Articulation,  h  is  merely  breath,  modified  by  the  shape  of  the  mouth 
for  the  utterance  of  the  following  vowel.  The  vocal  chords  do  not 
vibrate. 

Probable  mistakes,  h  may  be  omitted  entirely.  Sometimes  when 
foreigners  have  learned  to  use  h,  they  use  it  where  it  does  not  belong, 
pronouncing,  for  example,  both  air  and  hair  alike,  as  hair. 

Spanish,  Italians,  Portuguese  have  difficulty  with  h. 


for  Foreigners  5 

f  as  in  fat,  cough,  telephone 

Articulation.  Place  the  upper  teeth  against  the  lower  lip  and  let 
the  air  escape  through  the  openings  of  the  teeth.  The  vocal  chords  do 
not  vibrate.  A  voiceless  v. 

Probable  mistakes,     h  may  be  substituted. 

Japanese  have  difficulty  with  f. 

^~f~~r" 
v  as  in  vine 

Articulation.  Place  the  upper  teeth  against  the  lower  lip  and  let  the 
air  escape  through  the  openings  of  the  teeth.  The  vocal  chords  vibrate. 
A  voiced  v. 

Probable  mistakes.  For  v  may  be  substituted  w,  or  a  b-like  sound 
made  by  bringing  the  lips  close  together,  without  completely  closing 
them.  For  final  v,  f  is  often  used. 

Spanish,  Portuguese,  Japanese,  Chinese  have  trouble  with  v;  most 
nationalities  use  the  voiceless  form  f  instead  of  final  v. 

p  as  in  pat 

Articulation.  Close  the  lips  completely,  then  open  them  suddenly  so 
that  the  air  escapes  with  a  kind  of  explosion.  The  vocal  chords  do  not 
vibrate.  A  voiceless  b. 

Probable  mistakes.  Initial  p  may  be  exploded  without  the  little 
puff  of  breath  following,  customary  in  American  speech,  so  that  the 
sound  is  heard  by  us  as  b ;  final  p  may  be  unexploded  and  will  seem  to 
us  to  have  been  omitted. 

Spanish,  Italians,  Portuguese,  Japanese  omit  the  puff  of  breath  after 
the  explosion ;  Chinese  omit  the  final  explosion. 

b  as  in  lit 

Articulation.  Close  the  lips  completely,  then  open  them  suddenly 
so  that  the  air  escapes  with  a  kind  of  explosion.  The  vocal  chords 
vibrate.  A  voiced  p. 

Probable  mistakes.  For  b  may  be  used  a  v-like  sound,  made  by 
bringing  the  lips  close  together  without  actual  contact;  for  final  b  is 
sometimes  used  p.  Final  b  is  sometimes  not  exploded. 

Spanish,  Portuguese  sometimes  do  not  make  the  complete  contact 
for  b;  Chinese  do  not  explode  final  b;  and  most  nationalities,  very 
noticeably  Scandinavians,  Chinese  use  p  instead  of  final  b. 


b  English  Pronunciation 

t  as  in  tin,  passed 

Articulation.  Block  the  mouth  by  placing  the  front  edge  of  the 
tongue  against  the  gums  back  of  the  teeth;  then  drop  the  tongue  sud 
denly  so  that  the  air  escapes  with  a  kind  of  explosion.  The  vocal 
chords  do  not  vibrate.  A  voiceless  d. 

Probable  mistakes.  The  tongue  may  be  placed  against  the  teeth,  or 
even  between  them,  and  the  air  so  slightly  exploded  that  the  sound 
resembles  t-th  in  the  phrase  not  think;  or  there  may  be  no  puff  of  breath 
following  the  explosion  which  is  customary  in  English  in  initial  t,  so 
that  it  sounds  to  our  ears  like  d ;  or  final  t  may  be  unexploded,  so  that 
it  seems  to  us  to  have  been  omitted. 

Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italians,  Slavs,  Japanese  have  difficulty  with 
English  t ;  Chinese  do  not  explode  final  t. 


Articulation.  Block  the  mouth  by  placing  the  front  edge  of  the 
tongue  against  the  gums  back  of  the  teeth;  then  drop  the  tongue  sud 
denly  so  that  the  air  escapes  with  a  kind  of  explosion.  The  vocal  chords 
vibrate.  A  voiced  t. 

Probable  mistakes.  The  tongue  may  be  placed  against  the  teeth  or 
even  between  them,  and  the  air  so  lightly  exploded  that  the  sound 
resembles  d-dh  in  the  phrase  read  this;  sometimes  the  pressure  of  the 
tongue  against  the  teeth  is  so  slight  that  there  is  no  explosion  and  the 
sound  is  much  like  English  th  in  bathe;  if  final,  t  is  often  substituted 
for  d,  or  there  may  be  no  explosion  so -that  the  sound  seems  to  us  to 
have  been  omitted  altogether. 

Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italians,  Greeks,  Slavs,  Japanese  form  d  dif 
ferently  from  English;  Spanish  and  Portuguese  will  use  a  sound 
resembling  th  except  when  initial ;  Chinese  do  not  explode  final  d,  and 
most  nationalities  have  the  tendency  to  use  t  for  final  d. 

k  as  in  kite,  cat,  quite 

Articulation.  Raise  the  back  of  the  tongue  against  the  soft  palate, 
completely  blocking  the  mouth;  then  drop  the  tongue  suddenly  so  that 
the  air  escapes  with  a  kind  of  explosion.  The  vocal  chords  do  not 
vibrate.  A  voiceless  g. 

Probable  mistakes.  If  initial  k  is  uttered  without  the  little  puff 
of  breath  following  to  which  we  are  accustomed,  the  sound  will  seem 
to  our  ears  like  g  in  go.  If  the  tongue  is  not  dropped  in  final  k,  so 
that  there  is  no  explosion,  the  sound  seems  to  us  to  have  been  omitted. 

Spanish,  Italian,  Portuguese,  Greek,  French  omit  the  puff  of  breath 
after  the  explosion  in  initial  k ;  Chinese  do  not  explode  final  k. 


for  Foreigners 

g  as  in  go 

Articulation.  Raise  the  bacFof  tlfe  tongue  against  the  soft  palate, 
completely  blocking  the  mouth,  then  drop  the  tongue  suddenly,  so  that 
the  air  escapes  with  a  kind  of  explosion.  The  vocal  chords  vibrate. 
A  voiced  k. 

Probable  mistakes.  If  the  tongue  does  not  form  an  actual  contact 
with  the  soft  palate  there  can  be  no  explosion,  but  instead  a  rough 
kind  of  sound  for  which  English  has  nothing  corresponding.  For  final 
g  is  sometimes  used  k,  sometimes  ng,  or  k  preceded  by  ng. 

Spanish,  Portuguese,  Greeks  pronounce  g  without  making  the  com 
plete  closure;  Chinese  and  Japanese  have  the  tendency  to  use  ng  or 
ng-k  when  g  is  final.  Thus  "bag"  sounds  like  "bang"  or  "bank." 
Most  non-English  speaking  nationalities  use  k  instead  of  final  g. 

ng  as  in  sing,  sink 

Articulation.  Raise  the  back  of  the  tongue  against  the  soft  palate, 
completely  blocking  the  mouth,  and  send  the  breath  out  through  the 
nose.  The  vocal  chords  vibrate.  It  is  the  same  articulation  as  for  g, 
except  that  the  breath,  instead  of  escaping  from  the  mouth  with  an 
explosion,  comes  out  gently  through  the  nose. 

Probable  mistakes,  n  is  sometimes  substituted  for  ng;  sometimes 
n  or  ng,  followed  by  g  or  k.  Sing  may  be  pronounced  sin,  sin-g,  sing-g 
or  sing-k. 

Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italians,  Slavs,  Scandinavians  often  make  this 
mistake. 

Note:  Because  the  sound  is  represented  in  English  by  two  letters, 
ng,  people  sometimes  think  that  the  sound  itself  has  two  parts  and 
they  talk  of  "leaving  off  the  g."  But  saying  doin'  for  doing  is  not 
leaving  off  the  g;  it  is  simply  using  n  instead  of  ng,  just  as  the  child 
who  says  "det"  for  "get"  is  using  d  instead  of  g. 


K. 


g 


FIG.  3.     Diagrams  to  show  the  difference  in  the  articulation  of  ng  and  k,  g. 


English  Pronunciation 

w  as  in  wet 

Articulation.  Round  the  lips  and  raise  the  tongue  as  for  u  in  truth 
but  bring  the  lips  so  closely  together  that  the  air  in  passing  through 
rubs  against  them  audibly.  The  vocal  chords  vibrate.  A  voiced  wh. 

Probable  mistakes,  v  as  in  vine  may  be  used ;  or  w  may  be  formed 
with  the  lips  straight  instead  of  rounded.  This  gives  a  v-like  sound. 

Slavs,  Italians,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Scandinavians  have  difficulty 
with  w ;  Japanese  find  it  difficult  in  such  words  as  woo,  wood,  woman. 

wh  as  in  whet 

Articulation.  Eound  the  lips  and  raise  the  tongue  as  for  u  in  truth 
but  bring  the  lips  so  close  together  that  the  air  in  passing  through  rubs 
against  them  audibly.  The  vocal  chords  do  not  vibrate.  A  voiceless  w. 

Probable  mistakes,  w  is  used  instead  of  wh,  and  any  mistake  that 
is  made  for  w  will  be  repeated  for  wh. 

All  foreigners  have  difficulty  with  wh.  Since  in  England  best  usage 
prescribes  w,  not  wh,  it  seems  useless  to  insist  that  the  foreigner  learn 
this  sound,  if  he  finds  it  very  difficult. 

1  as  in  let 

Articulation.  Place  the  tip  of  the  slightly  concave  tongue  against 
the  gums  back  of  the  teeth  in  such  a  way  as  to  block  the  front  of  the 
mouth,  leaving  the  sides  of  the  tongue  free,  over  which  the  air  issues. 
The  vocal  chords  vibrate. 

Probable  mistakes.  1  is  sometimes  omitted ;  w  or  r  may  be  substitu 
ted  for  it.  European  1  differs  from  the  American  sound  chiefly  in  the 
shape  of  the  tongue,  which  is  convex  for  European  and  concave  for 
American  1.  For  American  1  also  the  tongue  is  applied  a  little  father 
back  than  for  European  1.  Unless  1  is  final,  this  difference  in  quality 
is  not  very  noticeable. 

Japanese  have  serious  difficulty  with  1.  The  Chinese  have_a  sound 
which  has  some  resemblance  to  1,  which  they  use  for  both  1  and  r., 
Europeans  will  use  their  own  1,  which  when  final  will  give  the  word  a 
foreign  sound. 


r  as  in  rose 

Articulation.  Place  the  sides  of  the  tongue  against  the  upper  back 
teeth,  raising  the  tip  of  the  tongue  toward,  but  not  touching  the  gums 
back  of  the  front  teeth.  The  lips  are  parted  but  not  rounded.  The 
vocal  chords  vibrate. 

Probable  mistakes.  Most  Europeans  trill  r,  either  with  the  tongue 
tip  against  the  teeth,  or  with  the  tip  of  the  soft  palate  against  the  back 
of  the  tongue.  Orientals  confuse  r  with  1. 


for  Foreigners  9 

All  Continental  Europeans  find  r  difficult;  Japanese  and  Chinese_ 
confuse  it  with  1  and  find  it  very  difficult.  The  Japanese  have  a  sound 
somewhat  resembling'  r  which  they  use  for  both  1  and  r. 

Note:  Since  many  careful  speakers  omit  final  r  or  r  followed  by  a 
consonant,  as  in  bar,  barn,  it  seems  unnecessary  to  insist  that  foreigners 
make  the  effort  to  use  the  final  r.  Teachers  should  guard  against  the 
tendency  to  teach  initial  r  like  the  syllable  er  in  father ;  it  gives  a  rough, 
unnecessarily  unmusical  sound. 


FIG.  4.  These  palatograms  show  the  difference  between  the  articulation  of  1  and  r. 
The  darkened  portion  shows  where  the  tongue  touches  the  palate  in  forming  the 
sounds.  It  is  clear  that  for  1  the  tongue  touches  only  in  the  middle  behind  the  front 
teeth,  while  the  air  issues  over  the  sides  ;  for  r  the  tongue  touches  only  at  the  sides 
by  the  back  teeth  while  the  air  issues  over  the  tongue  tip. 

s  as  in  sit,  ice,  scene 

Articulation.  Bring  the  sides  of  the  tongue  into  contact  with  the 
upper  side  teeth  so  that  in  the  middle  a  rill  is  formed  through  which 
the  air  passes  in  a  narrow  stream,  striking  against  the  partly  closed 
teeth.  The  vocal  chords  do  not  vibrate.  A  voiceless  z. 

Probable  mistakes,     s  and  sh  are  sometimes  confused  with  each  other. 

Chinese  and  Japanese  have  difficulty  with  s,  especially  with  the. 
vowels  in  see,  sip. 

Note :  Lisping  is  a  defect  common  to  all  nationalities. 

z  as  in  zebra,  rose,  has,  bridges 

Articulation.  Bring  the  sides  of  the  tongue  into  contact  with  the 
upper  side  teeth  so  that  in  the  middle  a  rill  is  formed  through  which 
the  air  passes  in  a  narrow  stream,  striking  against  the  partly  closed 
teeth.  The  vocal  chords  do  not  vibrate.  A  voiced  s. 

Probable  mistakes,     s  may  be  used,  especially  when  final. 


10 


English  Pronunciation 


Spanish,  Portuguese,  Swedish,  Japanese,  Chinese  have  no  z  sound^ 
most  foreigners  use  s  instead  of  z  at  the  end  of  a  word;  "raise"  sounds 
like  "race,"  "phase"  like  "face,"  etc. 


sh  as  in  she,  ocean,  nation,  sure 

Articulation.  Bring  the  sides  of  the  tongue  into  contact  with  the 
upper  side  teeth,  but  not  so  far  forward  as  for  s,  so  that  a  broader 
groove  is  formed;  draw  back  the  tongue  slightly  so  that  the  stream  of 
breath  is  directed  to  a  lower  point  than  for  s;  the  lips  are  somewhat 
protruded.  The  vocal  chords  do  not  vibrate.  A  voiceless  zh. 

Probable  mistakes.     For  sh  may  be  used'ch  or  s. 

SpanishT-Japanpae^£!hinese  have  difficulty  with  sh. 

zh  as  in  azure,  vision 

Articulation.  Bring  the  sides  of  the  tongue  into  contact  with  the 
upper  side  teeth,  but  not  so  far  forward  as  for  z,  so  that  a  broader 
groove  is  formed;  draw  back  the  tongue  slightly  so  that  the  stream  of 
breath  is  directed  to  a  lower  point  than  for  z;  the  lips  are  somewhat 
protruded.  The  vocal  chords  vibrate.  A  voiced  sh. 

Probable  mistakes.     For  zh  may  be  used  j  or  sh. 

Spanish,  Portuguese,  Japanese,  Chinese,  Scandinavians  may  have 
difficulty  with  this  sound. 


S  £  Sb.  zb 

FIG.  5.  These  palatograms  show  the  difference  in  articulation  between  s,  z,  and 
sh,  zh.  The  darkened  portion  shows  where  the  tongue  touches  the  palate  when  form 
ing  the  sounds.  It  is  clear  that  the  sides  of  the  tongue  touch  much  less  surface  for 
sh  than  for  s,  and  the  channel  through  which  the  air  passes  is  much  broader.  This 
broader  channel  with  the  added  resonating  space  given  by  the  projecting  lips,  explains 
why  sh  is  not  as  sharp  and  clear  as  s. 

ch  as  in  chin,  match 

Articulation.  Place  the  front  edge  of  the  tongue  against  the  gums 
back  of  the  teeth  as  for  t,  but  explode  the  t  by  dropping  the  tongue 


for  Foreigners  11 

into  the  position  for  sh.  The  vocal  chords  do  not  vibrate.  A  voice 
less  j. 

Probable  mistakes,  sh  may  be  used  for  ch,  t  at  the  beginning  being 
omitted. 

Japanese  often  fail  to  make  the  initial  explosion  sharp  enough  for 
English  usage.  Portuguese  use  sh  for  ch. 

j  as  in  just,  gem,  ridge 

Articulation.  Place  the  front  edge  of  the  tongue  against  the  gums 
back  of  the  teeth  as  for  d,  but  explode  the  d  by  dropping  the  tongue 
into  the  position  for  zh  as  in  azure.  The  vocal  chords  vibrate.  A 
voiced  ch. 

Probable  mistakes,     ch  may  be  used  for  j,  especially  when  final. 

Spanish  and  Portuguese  often  find  j  difficult;  most  nationalities  use 
ch  for  j  when  final.  Ridge  sounds  like  "rich,"  "badge"  like  "batch." 


VOWELS 

In  the  formation  of  vowels  the  lips,  teeth  and  tongue  do  not  form 
obstructions  which  impede  the  breath  as  it  issues  from  the  mouth,  as 
in  the  case  of  consonants;  they  merely  shape  the  mouth  cavity  which 
acts  as  a  resonating  chamber  for  speech  sound.  The  quality  or  color 
of  the  vowel  is  determined  largely  by  the  shape  of  this  resonating 
chamber. 

It  is  not  as  easy  to  demonstrate  the  articulation  of  vowels  as  of 
consonants,  since  their  quality  depends  to  a  great  extent  on  the  activity 
of  the  tongue  inside  of  the  mouth.  So  we  shall  have  to  depend  chiefly 
upon  imitation  in  teaching  vowels.  Attention  to  the  following  points 
will  help  the  foreigner  to  pronounce  English  vowels  correctly : 

1.  The  shape  and  tenseness  of  the  lips. 

2.  The  length  or  duration  of  the  sound. 

3.  The  breaking  of  the  longer  vowels  into  diphthongs. 

1.  The  lips  may  be  open  wide  (a  in  father)  ;  partly  open  (a  in  cat)  ; 
almost  closed  (i  in  bit)  ;  spread  (i  in  machine)  ;  rounded  (u  in  rule). 
They  may  be  tense  (i  in  machine)  ;  or  loose  (i  in  bit).     In  general  the 
tongue  has  the  same  degree  of  tenseness  as  the  lips  and  for  each  lip 
shape  there  is  a  certain  tongue  movement  which  habitually  accompanies 
it ;  so  that  watching  the  lips  may  give  a  clue  to  the  activity  of  the  tongue. 

2.  The  length  of  a  vowel  will  depend  on  whether  it  is  in  a  stressed  or 
unstressed  syllable ;  the  vowel  a  is  longer  in  art  than  in  artistic.     Com 
pare  vowel  lengths  of  i  in  dip  and  diploma ;  of  o  in  or  and  ornate. 

3—18236 


12  English  Pronunciation 

The  length  of  a  vowel  will  depend  on  whether  it  is  followed  by  an 
unstressed  syllable;  compare  the  vowel  length  in  bit  and  bitter,  car 
and  carnage,  stock  and  stocking,  sun  and  sunny. 

The  length  of  a  vowel  will  depend  on  the  following  sound.  It  is 
longest  if  final,  as  in  bee,  day,  toe ;  or  if  followed  by  a  voiced  consonant, 
as  in  bead,  dame,  toad.  It  is  not  so  long  if  followed  by  a  voiceless 
consonant,  as  in  beat,  date,  toast.  Compare  also:  bid,  bit;  cub,  cup; 
bed,  bet. 

3.  In  English  when  a  vowel,  on  account  of  its  position  in  the  word,  is 
long,  as  in  bee,  day,  toe,  too,  our  tendency  is  to  break  it  up  into  a 
diphthong;  that  is,  the  lips  change  their  shape  and  the  tongue  glides 
from  one  position  to  another  during  the  articulation  of  the  same  sound. 
This  is  especially  noticeable  in  day  and  toe ;  when  we  utter  the  vowel  in 
day,  the  tongue  moves  from  the  position  of  e  in  bed  to  i  in  bid;  for 
the  vowel  in  toe,  the  tongue  moves  from  the  position  of  the  vowel  o  in 
obey  to  that  in  too.  For  the  vowels  in  bee,  too,  the  tongue  becomes 
tenser  and  the  lips  close  slightly  toward  the  end  of  the  sound.  This 
change  in  quality  can  be  shown  to  the  foreigner  by  calling  his  attention 
to  the  changing  shape  of  the  lips,  and  before  the  mirror  he  can  learn 
to  utter  the  vowel  in  the  same  unstable  way. 

In  languages  other  than  English,  vowels  are  not  only  generally  pro 
nounced  much  shorter  than  ours,  but  they  are  pure ;  that  is,  the  tongue 
remains  in  the  same  position  for  the  entire  duration  of  the  sound.  Such 
words  as  coat,  shoe,  nose,  when  pronounced  by  foreigners,  sound  un 
finished  to  our  ears,  not  only  because  they  are  short,  but  because  of 
their  unchanging  quality. 

A  result  of  our  unphonetic  spelling  is  that  we  often  fail  to  hear 
sounds  as  they  really  are ;  we  do  not  recognize  that  the  two  vowels  in  ship 
and  sheep,  for  instance,  have  somewhat  the  same  relation  to  each  other 
as  light  and  dark  shades  of  the  same  color.  The  same  articulation, 
with  the  muscles  of  tongue  and  lips  tense,  gives  the  vowel  in  sheep ; 
with  the  muscles  relaxed,  the  vowel  in  ship.  These  two  vowels  are 
really  two  shades  of  the  same  sound. 

Thus  the  vowels  in  mate  and  met  belong  together;  in  loss  and  law; 
in  pull  and  pool ;  and  if  the  foreigner  lacks  one  of  the  pair  in  his  native 
tongue,  he  can  produce  the  other*  either  by  relaxing  or  tensing  his 
tongue,  as  the  case  may  be.  By  showing  the  pupils  how  the  lips  relax 
while  going  from  ee  to  i,  in  sheep  and  ship,  the  teacher  may  help  the 
pupil  to  the  right  utterance  of  ship,  for  when  the  lips  relax,  the  tongue 
relaxes  also. 

There  are  a  few  vowels  that  are  peculiar  to  English,  not  occurring 
in  other  languages.  For  them  the  foreigner  will  use  the  native  vowel 
that  seems  to  him  most  similar.  Sometimes  it  will  be  an  entirely 


for  Foreigners  13 

different  vowel,  as  when  he  pronounces  come  like  calm;  sometimes  it 
is  only  a  tense  form  of  a  lax  vowel,  as  when  he  pronounces  ship  like 
sheep.  Sometimes,  it  should  be  remembered,  what  seems  to  our  ears 
like  a  strange  vowel  is  merely  a  too  short  or  too  pure  form  of  our  own 
sound,  as  when  sheep  sounds  to  us  like  ship. 

The  vowel  in  come,  cup,  touch,  blood 

Articulation.  Open  the  lips  wide  enough  to  admit  the  tip  of  the  little 
finger  between  the  teeth;  place  the  tongue  tip  against  the  lower  teeth 
and  raise  slightly  the  part  of  the  tongue  back  of  the  middle. 

Probable  mistakes.  For  this  vowel  will  be  used  the  a  in  father,  in 
which  case  the  mouth  opening  is  too  wide  and  the  elevated  part  of  the 
tongue  is  in  the  middle ;  or  a  vowel  similar  to  the  o  in  loss,  for  which  the 
lips  are  slightly  rounded  and  the  elevated  part  of  the  tongue  is  farther 
back  than  for  the  vowel  in  cup. 

All  nationalities  have  difficulty  with  this  vowel. 

The  vowel  in  burn,  word,  bird,  berth,  heard,  journey 

Articulation.  Contract  the  corners  of  the  lips  tensely,  open  the  lips 
wide  enough  to  admit  the  little  finger  between  the  teeth ;  pull  the  tongue 
tip  just  back  of  the  edges  of  the  upper  teeth  and  raise  tensely  the  part 
of  the  tongue  back  of  the  middle.  This  is  very  similar  to  the  vowel  in 
cup,  except  that  it  is  tenser.  It  is  always  followed  by  r. 

Probable  mistakes.  Sometimes  instead  of  burn  a  word  is  used  that 
sounds  something  like  barn ;  that  is,  the  mouth  is  too  wide  open  and  the 
tongue  too  flat ;  or  the  word  may  sound  something  like  born,  the  lips 
being  rounded  and  the  back  of  the  tongue  raised.  As  most  foreigners 
find  r  difficult,  some  of  the  trouble  that  they  have  with  this  vowel  is  due 
to  the  following  r. 

All  nationalities  will  have  difficulty  with  this  sound;  Chinese  and 
Scandinavians  will,  however,  replace  the  vowel  by  one  of  their  own 
which  bears  considerable  resemblance  to  it. 

The  vowel  in  all,  awe,  cough,  water,  broad,  lord 

Articulation.  Round  the  lips  slightly,  drawing  them  together  at  the 
corners ;  open  the  lips  wide  enough  to  permit  the  insertion  of  the  thumb 
between  the  teeth;  draw  the  tongue  back  so  that  the  tip  rests  against 
the  gums  of  the  lower  teeth,  and  raise  the  back  of  the  tongue  rather 
tensely.  This  is  similar  to  the  vowel  in  loss,  but  tenser. 

Probable  mistakes.  Sometimes  the  lax  o  sound,  similar  to  the  vowel 
in  loss,  is  used  in  these  words,  sometimes  the  vowel  in  father. 

Most  foreigners  pronounce  this  sound  more  or  less  imperfectly. 


14  English  Pronunciation 

The  vowel  in  cat 

Articulation.  Open  the  lips  so  as  to  take  the  middle  finger  well  in, 
contracting  slightly  the  lip  corners;  place  the  tongue  tip  against  the 
roots  of  the  lower  teeth  and  raise  slightly  the  part  of  the  tongue  in 
front  of  the  middle. 

Probable  mistakes.  The  foreigner  will  use  either  the  a  in  father  or 
e  in  met. 

All  foreigners  have  more  or  less  trouble  with  this  vowel. 

The  vowel  in  stone,  coat,  mould,  sew,  foe 

Articulation.  Round  the  lips,  with  the  corners  closely  drawn 
together;  drop  the  tip  of  the  tongue  and  draw  it  away  from  the  lower 
teeth,  raising  the  back  toward  the  soft  palate.  When  the  vowel  is 
prolonged  it  becomes  diphthongal,  closing  with  u  as  in  true. 

Probable  mistakes.  The  foreigner  will  use  his  own  o  sound,  similar 
to  o  in  loss ;  the  vowel  will  be  too  short  and  pure. 

Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italians,  Slavs,  Japanese,  Chinese  will  have 
difficulty  with  o. 

The  vowel  in  ship,  Imsy,  women 

Articulation.  Relax  the  lips,  stretch  them  slightly  as  for  a  smile; 
open  them  wide  enough  to  admit  the  tip  of  the  little  finger  between  the 
teeth.  Place  the  tongue  tip  against  the  lower  front  teeth  and  raise  the 
front  of  the  tongue  quite  close  to  the  hard  palate.  The  same  articula 
tion  with  tongue  and  lips  tense  will  give  the  vowel  in  ~bead,  seed,  piece, 
key. 

Probable  mistakes.  The  tense  vowel  as  in  sheep  may  be  used.  The 
vowel  will  be  too  short. 

Spanish,  Portuguese,  Slavs,  Japanese,  Chinese  may  have  difficulty 
with  this  sound. 

The  vowel  in  put,  book,  could,  wolf 

Articulation.  Relax  the  lips,  round  them  and  bring  them  very  close 
together,  so  that  the  teeth  are  almost  closed;  pull  back  the  tongue  and 
raise  the  back  part  of  the  tongue  near  to  the  soft  palate.  The  same 
articulation  with  tongue  and  lips  tense  and  closer  will  give  the  vowel 
in  truth,  cool,  shoe,  move,  fruit. 

Probable  mistakes.  The  tense  vowel  as  in  cool  may  be  used;  the 
vowel  may  be  too  short.  The  lips  may  be  straight,  instead  of  rounded, 
and  the  vowel  will  sound  very  unlike  the  English  sound. 

Spanish,  Italians,  Slavs  will  use  the  tense  vowel  as  in  cool ;  Japanese 
will  use  the  unrounded  vowel,  both  for  sound  in  book  and  in  cool. 


for  Foreigners  15 

DIPHTHONGS 

The  vowel  sounds  in  my,  ice;  house,  cow;  boy,  noise;  muse,  few  are 
diphthongs,  composed  of  two  distinct  sounds  which  melt  into  each 
other  and  give  the  impression  of  one  vowel. 

SPECIAL  DIFFICULTIES  DUE  TO  NATIVE  SPEECH 

Although  the  people  of  each  different  nationality  have  their  own 
peculiar  difficulties  with  English  pronunciation,  there  are  some  diffi 
culties  common  to  all.  The  habit  of  diphthongization  of  prolonged 
vowels,  as  in  day,  see,  two ;  the  varying  vowel  length,  as  in  bead,  beading, 
beside;  the  marked  difference  between  stressed  and  unstressed  syllables 
and  the  peculiar  way  we  have  of  obscuring  the  vowel  in  an  unstressed 
syllable,  as  in  sofa,  breakfast ;  these  are  characteristic  English  traits. 

In  the  following  pages  attention  is  called  to  the  most  striking  differ 
ences  between  the  pronunciation  of  English  and  some  of  the  languages 
spoken  by  foreign  nationalities  largely  represented  in  California.  The 
teacher  can  often  help  the  pupil  to  avoid  mistakes  in  pronunciation  if 
she  knows  what  mistakes  he  is  likely  to  make  because  of  his  national 
speech  habits,  for  some  English  sounds  are  difficult  to  foreigners  of  one 
nationality  and  not  to  another. 

Italian 

Italians  help  out  their  own  language  with  gestures;  this  is  especially 
true  of  South  Italians  who  find  a  foreign  language  particularly  diffi 
cult.  They  have  the  habit  also  of  suppressing  unstressed  syllables, 
which  they  carry  over  into  English;  so  that  the  Italian  says  "pens" 
instead  of  "pencil,"  "win"  instead  of  "window";  he  is  much  more 
likely  to  fail  to  hear  the  unstressed  syllable  because  it  is  much  lighter 
than  in  his  own  language. 

"Words  end  in  vowels,  except  a  few  in  1,  r,  or  n;  therefore  Italians 
find  it  hard  to  pronounce  English  words  ending  in  a  consonant. 

Sounds  difficult  for  the  Italian : 

Consonants:  th,  wh,  h,  t,  d,  1,  r,  ng  (final),  w  (initial). 
Vowels :  in  cat,  put,  cup,  burn,  made,  mode,  all. 

Spanish 

The  Spanish  use  their  lips  very  energetically  and  their  tongues  rather 
sluggishly;  the  Americans  articulate  more  with  the  tongue  and  less 
with  the  lips.  Spanish  stress  is  very  even  and  falls  almost  always  on 
the  last  or  next  to  the  last  syllable. 


16  English  Pronunciation 

Words  generally  end  in  vowels  and  therefore  the  Spanish  find  it  hard 
to  pronounce  an  English  word  ending  in  a  consonant. 

Sounds  difficult  for  the  Spanish: 

Consonants :  th,  wh,  h,  v,  1,  r,  t,  d,  b,  g ;  ng  when  not  followed  by  k. 

Vowels :  in  cat,  put,  cup,  burn,  all,  mode. 

The  difficulties  of  Portuguese  and  Greeks  are  in  general  those  of  the 
Spanish. 

Scandinavian 

While  Danish,  Swedish  and  Norwegian  are  slightly  different  lan 
guages,  Scandinavians  have  in  general  the  same  difficulties  in  English 
pronunciation.  Final  consonants  have  the  tendency  to  become  voice 
less;  thus  bed  and  bet,  raise  and  race  sound  alike. 

Sounds  difficult  for  Scandinavians : 
Consonants :  th,  w,  wh,  z,  j,  r,  ng,  t,  d. 
Vowels :  in  cat,  made,  mode,  cup,  burn,  all,  put. 

Slavs 

While  Russian,  Polish,  Czecho-Slovak  are  distinctly  different  lan 
guages,  Slavs  have  in  general  the  same  difficulties  in  English  pronun 
ciation.  One  noticeable  habit  which  they  have  in  common  is  to  raise 
the  blade  of  the  tongue  to  the  position  for  y  in  yet,  when  pronouncing 
consonants  followed  by  the  vowels  in  see  or  say.  To  our  ears  then  the 
sound  y  seems  to  be  inserted  before  the  vowel ;  deep  will  sound  like 
dyeep. 

Sounds  difficult  for  Slavs : 

Consonants :  th,  t,  d,  w,  wh,  ng,  r,  h.  Slavic  h  is  voiced ;  r  is  sharply 
trilled. 

Vowels  in:  cap,  pin,  made,  mode,  all,  burn,  put. 

Japanese 

The  Japanese  move  their  lips  very  slightly  and  form  consonants 
indistinctly;  the  consonant  often  changes  according  to  the  following 
vowel,  for  instance,  see  becomes  she.  Stress  is  so  slight  that  we  can 
scarcely  distinguish  it. 

Syllables  consist  of  one  consonant  followed  by  a  vowel;  therefore 
consonant  blends  and  final  consonants  are  difficult  for  Japanese. 

Sounds  difficult  for  Japanese: 

Consonants:  t,  d,  th,  wh,  f,  v,  z,  1,  r,  ng  (unless  followed  by  k),  w 
(in  woo,  woman,  wood),  y  (in  year,  yeast). 


for  Foreigners  17 

The  Japanese  have  a  sound  somewhat  resembling  r  which  they  use 
in  English  words  spelled  either  with  1  or  r,  so  that  light  and  right 
sound  alike.  They  need  special  ear  training  to  learn  to  distinguish 
the  two  sounds.  Blends  with  1  are  especially  difficult. 

Vowels:  in  cat,  made,  mode,  all,  burn,  pin,  cup,  put. 

Chinese 

The  Chinese  move  their  lips  slightly,  and  seem  to  form  their  sounds 
in  the  back  of  the  mouth.  The  voice  rises  and  falls,  not  to  aid  in  the 
expression  of  thought,  as  in  English,  but  to  change  the  meaning  of 
individual  words.  They  have  few  difficulties  with  English  pronuncia 
tion,  but  those  few  are  very  difficult  to  overcome. 

Final  p,  b,  t,  d,  k,  g  are  not  exploded ;  final  b,  d,  g  become  unvoiced 
and  sound  to  our  ears  like  p,  t,  k,  respectively.  If  final  g  is  not  unvoiced 
it  is  replaced  by  ng,  or  ng  followed  by  k ;  thus  frag  will  sound  like  bang 
or  bank. 

Sounds  difficult  for  Chinese : 

Consonants :  th,  wh,  g,  v,  1,  r ;  final  p,  b,  t,  d,  g,  k,  z ;  s  or  sh  according 
to  the  dialect  spoken. 

Chinese  have  a  consonant  somewhat  resembling  1,  which  they  use  in 
English  words  spelled  either  with  r  or  1,  so  that  light  and  right  will 
sound  alike.  They  need  special  ear  training  to  learn  to  distinguish  the_ 
two  sounds. 

Vowels:  in  cat,  mode,  all,  made,  burn. 

EXERCISES  FOR  ARTICULATION 

There  are  two  groups  of  exercises.  Those  for  little  children  are 
presented  in  the  form  of  games ;  in  them  it  is  planned  to  make  use  of 
the  child's  love  of  babble,  through  which  he  developed  his  ability  to 
utter  the  sounds  of  his  native  language.  In  the  second  group  will  be 
found  alliterative  sentences  for  the  use  of  older  children  and  adults. 
Many  of  these  sentences  may  be  used  in  connection  with  vocabulary 
building,  as  they  may  be  accompanied  by  pantomime. 

It  is  not  expected  that  all  the  exercises,  or  any  entire  exercise,  will 
be  used  for  a  class;  but  a  variety  of  drills  on  each  sound  is  offered  in 
the  hope  that  each  teacher  may  find  something  to  meet  the  needs  of  her 
particular  class.  For  instance,  the  Chinese  will  need  drill  for  final 
p,  and  the  Japanese  for  f ,  but  not  final  p ;  Italians  have  no  difficulty 
with  final  p  nor  f,  but  can  not  pronounce  h,  which  gives  no  difficulty 
to  either  Chinese  or  Japanese. 

Mirrors  should  be  used  with  all  the  articulation  drills,  even  for  the 
younger  children. 


18  English  Pronunciation 

EXERCISES  FOR  LITTLE  CHILDREN 

th 

Drum  game.  To  interest  the  children  in  the  sound,  use  a  drum ;  as 
you  beat  it,  say  that  the  drum  says :  thump,  thump,  thump,  etc.  Show 
the  children  how  you  make  the  sound ;  even  little  children  are  interested 
in  seeing  their  tongues  in  a  mirror.  When  the  child  has  succeeded  in 
forming  the  sound  correctly,  let  him  beat  the  drum,  saying  meanwhile 
with  you :  thump,  thump,  etc. 

Repeat  the  th  rhythm,  with  music  if  you  have  a  piano,  the  children 
beating  imaginary  drums.     See  page  28. 
Thumb  game.     A  finger  play.     See  page  28. 

This  is  not  the  same  game  as  "Simon  says"  etc.  The  object  is  the 
correct  utterance  of  the  sounds  and  the  association  of  the  words  with 
their  meaning.  Let  the  child  who  can  pronounce  the  words  well  act 
as  leader.  The  words:  thumb,  up,  down  should  be  accompanied  by 
effective  motions. 

Note:  In  the  devising  of  games  for  articulation  drills,  most  valuable 
aid  was  given  by  Miss  Nina  Kenagy,  of  the  San  Francisco  State  Teach 
ers  College,  and  Miss  Evlyn  Chastene  of  Oakland. 

Monkey  game.     A  monkey  is  a  fascinating  object  to  children  and  a 
toy  monkey  will  do  wonders  in  loosening  tongues.     For  articulation 
purposes  we  will  suppose  that  monkey  chatter  contains  many  th  sounds, 
and  we  will  have  the  monkey  talk  to  the  children  using  nonsense  sylla 
bles  with  the  simple  vowels  a,  e,  i,  o,  u.     Let  the  monkey  call  on  each 
child,  chattering  monkey  talk,  while  the  child  is  encouraged  to  answer 
back  in  kind.     There  will  ensue  a  dialogue  something  like  this : 
Monkey:   Th*,  tha,  tha,  the. 
Child:        The,  the,  the,  tho,  etc. 
Tha,  the,  tho,  thum; 
This  is  my  hand, 
And  this  is  my  thumb. 
Outh,  ath,  ith,  eeth; 
This  is  my  mouth, 
And  these  are  my  teeth. 
All  nationalities  need  th  drills. 

h 

Blowing  exercise:      Blow  against  the  hand,  audibly. 
Laughing  exercise :  Ha,  ha,  ha,  ha ! 

He,  he,  he,  he! 

Ho,  ho,  ho,  ho! 

Ha,  ha,  ha,  hoo,  hoo,  hoo ! 

I  have  two  hands, 
So  have  you. 


for  Foreigners  19 

Ha,  ha,  ha,  hi,  hi,  hi  ! 
You  have  one  head, 
So  have  I. 

Ha,  Ha,  Ha,  he,  he,  he  ! 
She  has  brown  hair, 
So  has  he,  etc.,  etc. 
Italians,  Portuguese,  Spanish. 


Blowing  exercise:     With  upper  teeth  placed  on  lower  lip,  hold  a 
slip  of  paper  before  the  mouth  and  utter:  fa,  fa,  fa,  fa! 

fe,  fe,  fe,  fe  ! 
fo,  fo,  fo,  fo  !  etc. 
For  Valentine  Day  :         Vo,  vo,  vo  ;  vee,  vee,  vee  ! 

Valentines  for  you  and  me  ! 
Imitation  of  aeroplane:  Voo,  voo,  voo,  etc. 

f  exercise  needed  by  Japanese  ;  v  exercise  for  Spanish,  Portuguese, 
Chinese,  Japanese. 

p,  b 

Imitation  of  the  sheep:  Baa,  baa,  baa. 

Imitation  of  the  dog:  Bow,  wow,  bow,  wow. 

Imitation  of  the  bird  or  chicken  :  Peep,  peep,  peep. 
Initial  b  :  Spanish,  Portuguese  ;  final  b  :  Chinese. 
Initial  p  :  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italian,  Slavs  ;  final  p  :  Chinese. 

t,  d 

Imitation  of  the  shoemaker  or  hammer  :  Rat-a-tat-tat. 
Imitation  of  the  rain:  Pit-pat,  pit-pat. 
Imitation  of  the  horn:  Toot,  toot,  toot. 
Imitation  of  the  horse  :  Trot,  trot,  trot. 

These  should  be  spoken  slowly  so  that  final  t  is  sharply  articulated. 
Initial   t:    Spanish,   Portuguese,    Italian,    Greek,    Slav,    Japanese; 
final  t  :  Chinese. 

d:  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italian,  Greek,  Slav,  Japanese;  final  d: 
Chinese. 


Imitation  of  the  hen  :  Cluck,  cluck,  cluck. 

Imitation  of  the  dove  :  Coo,  coo,  coo. 

Imitation  of  the  duck:  Quack,  quack,  quack. 

Imitation  of  the  automobile  :  Chug,  chug,  chug. 

Imitation  of  the  tiger  :  Gurr,  gurr,  gurr. 
Initial  k  :  Spanish,  Italian,  Portuguese  ;  final  k  :  Chinese. 
Initial  g:  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Greek;  final  g:  Chinese,  Japanese. 

ng 

Ding,  dong,  ding,  dong, 

Ding  dong  bell,     (ng  to  be  held  so  that  it  dies  away  gradually) 
Italians,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Slavs. 


20  English  Pronunciation 

wh,  w 

Imitation  of  the  wind:  Woo,  woo,  woo. 

Imitation  of  the  dog:  Bow  wow,  bow,  wow. 

Imitation  of  the  little  pig:  Wee,  wee,  wee. 

Driving  the  horse :  Whoa,  whoa, 
wh :  all  nationalities, 
w :  Slavs,  though  occasionally  other  nationalities  need  help  with  w. 

i 

la,  la,  la,  la,  le,  le,  etc.,  used  as  the  chorus  of  a  familiar  song. 
Japanese,  Chinese. 


Imitation  of  the  bird :  Chiree,  chiree,  chiree. 
Salutation  of  the  flag :  Hurrah,  hurrah. 
All  nationalities,  especially  Chinese,  Japanese. 

S,  Z 

Peanut  wagon  game.  Adaptation  of  "Do  you  know  the  Muffin 
Man?"  "Do  you  know  the  peanut  man,  that  drives  the  little  cart," 
with  hissing  chorus. 

Imitation  of  the  bee:  Zum,  zum,  zum. 

Drills  to  overcome  lisping,  but  may  be  needed  by  Chinese  and 
Japanese. 

sh,  zh,  (azure) 

sh,  sh,  sh,  sh.     A  hushing  drill. 
Chinese  often  need  the  drill. 

ch,  j 

Imitation  of  train:  Choo,  choo,  choo. 
Imitation  of  automobile:  Chug,  chug,  chug. 
Jumping  Jack  game:  Jumping  Jack,  jump ! 

Jump,  jump,  jump ! 

Rhythm  for  jumping  rope:  Jump,  jump,  jumpity,  jump.  The 
rhythm  to  be  repeated  by  children,  as  one  jumps  the  rope.  (To 
avoid  the  use  of  ch  for  j,  the  words  should  be  articulated  gently). 

Most  nationalities  have  difficulty  with  final  j ;  Portuguese  with  j  in 
all  positions. 


VOWELS 

Little  children  seldom  need  special  articulation  drills  for  vowels. 
They  will  usually  be  able  to  imitate  the  vowel  quite  successfully  if 
they  hear  them  distinctly  and  repeatedly  uttered.  Attention  to  the 
shape  and  tensity  of  the  lips  will  help  the  teacher  to  understand  the 
child's  difficulties. 


for  Foreigners  21 

If  vowels  are  too  short,  the  teacher  may  show  by  motions  of  her 
hand  how  they  are  to  be  prolonged.  In  cases  where  drills  for  vowels 
seem  necessary,  the  teacher  can  make  use  of  the  animal  cries  and 
natural  sounds,  as  in  the  following  examples: 

Imitation  of  the  hen :  cluck,  cluck. 

Imitation  of  the  cat :  purr,  purr. 

Imitation  of  the  rain:  pit-pat,  pit-pat. 

Imitation  of  the  crow :  caw,  caw. 

Laughing  exercise :  ho,  ho,  ho. 


EXERCISES  FOR  OLDER  CHILDREN  AND  ADULTS 

th 

With  mirror  in  hand  and  tongue  carefully  placed,  practice  the 
articulation  of  both  forms  of  th  with  the  different  vowels,  at  first 
not  in  words  but  in  simple  syllables,  using  the  vowels  in  art,  be,  day, 
go,  too.  Then  use  them  in  such  common  words  as  these,  those,  thick, 
thin.  When  th  is  mastered  as  an  initial  sound,  practice  in  the  same 
way  final  th  with  the  vowels  as  in  teeth,  tooth,  mouth,  and  then  put 
them  into  words.  Finally  use  th  between  vowels  as  in  father,  mother, 
brother. 

Thump,  thoughtful  thumb, 

Thump  on  your  drum! 

Thump,  thump,  thump. 

Thirty  thousand  thoughtful  boys 
Thought  they'd  make  a  thundering  noise; 
So  with  thirty  thousand  thumbs 
They  thumped  on  thirty  thousand  drums. 

Put  your  thimble  on  your  thumb. 

Thread  three  thin  needles. 

Father  and  mother  are  with  their  other  brother. 

This  thief  has  thirty  teeth  in  his  mouth. 

All  nationalities. 


Let  the  pupil  hold  a  slip  of  paper  before  his  lips,  which  should  be 
blown  from  them  every  time  h  is  articulated. 

Here  are  his  hands,  here  is  his  head,  here  is  his  hair. 

Here  is  his  high  hat. 

He  has  his  hat  in  his  hand. 

Hurry,  her  husband  has  hurt  his  heel. 

Henry  has  hidden  his  hammer  behind  her  .house. 

Spanish,  Italian,  Portuguese. 


22  English  Pronunciation 

••f,v  •     ;•   -;<! 

The  pupil  should  use  the  mirror,  to  be  sure  that  the  upper  teeth  are 
resting  on  the  lower  lip. 

Friday  Frank  fed  five  fish  fish-food. 
Feel  the  flag  with  five  fingers. 
^  My  very  best  vest  of  blue  velvet. 
Ben's  wife  found  five  very  beautiful  blue  violets. 
The  boy  has  four  felt  hats  and  five  fat  hens. 
-  We  have  very  few  warm  woolen  vests. 

Japanese  need  drill  for  f  ;  Japanese  and  Chinese  for  v  ;  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  the  exercises  containing  v  and  b. 

P,b 

Use  mirror  to  be  sure  that  lips  are  completely  closed  for  b;  with 
paper  held  before  lips,  test  the  explosion  of  final  p,  b  ;  also  the  little 
puff  of  breath  which  follows  initial  p  before  a  vowel. 

Bobby  blows  beautiful  big  bubbles. 

Bounce  the  big  blue  ball. 

Spin  the  pretty  top. 

Pick  up  the  piece  of  paper. 

I  baked  seven  loaves  of  bread. 

He  bought  a  very  big  vest. 
*•  Stop  at  the  shop,  buy  a  cap  and  a  top. 

I  can  peel  the  pears  and  the  plums. 

Peter  Piper  picked  a  peck  of  pickled  peppers. 

b  :  Spanish,  Portuguese  ;  they  need  also  drill  on  words  containing  b 
and  v. 

p  :  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italian,  Slav  ;  final  p,  b  :  Chinese. 

t,  d 

Test  explosion  of  final  t,  d  by  slip  of  paper  held  before  lips;  also 
the  puff  of  breath  to  follow  t  before  a  vowel. 

Tom  took  ten  little  tops. 

Two  times  ten  equals  twenty. 

Today  is  Tuesday. 

Dick's  dinner  cost  two  dimes. 

The  dog  stands  beside  the  bed. 
-•  Put  a  red  bead  on  the  table. 

The  cat  caught  a  fat  rat. 

The  golden  poppies  are  faded  already. 

I  have  hidden  the  reader  under  the  desk. 
t,  d:  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italian,  Slav;  final  t,  d:  Chinese. 


. 

Test  explosion  of  final  consonant  by  slip  of  paper  held  before  lips  ; 
also  of  puff  of  breath  following  k  before  vowel. 


for  Foreigners 

My  coffee  is  cold ;  I  can  not  drink  it. 

The  cow  gives  milk. 

Walk  quickly  to  the  desk  and  back  again. 

Go  and  get  Maggie's  big  glass  and  give  it  to  Gus. 

Our  cook  bakes  cake  and  cookies  in  our  kitchen. 

The  cuckoo  clock  strikes  six. 

The  green  grass  grows  in  the  garden. 

-  The  pig  ate  a  big  bag  of  figs. 

k,  g :  Spanish,  Italian,  Portuguese,  Slav ;  final  k,  g :  Chinese ;  final  g : 
Japanese. 

ng 

Bring  me  a  long,  strong  piece  of  string. 
He  is  putting  a  ring  on  his  ring  finger. 
The  singer  was  singing  a  long,  long  song. 
Seeing  is  believing. 

Something  is  crawling  along  on  the  ceiling. 
Slavs,  Spanish,  Italians,  Portuguese,  Japanese. 

W 

Use  mirror  to  make  sure  that  the  lips  are  closely  rounded ;  test  wh 
by  holding  slip  of  paper  before  the  lips. 

One  by  one  the  women  went  to  work. 

We  will  wash  and  wipe  the  wet  windows  with  warm  water. 

The  worm  works  its  way  well  into  the  wood. 

Where  is  the  whistle  which  I  whittled? 

I  wonder  whether  the  weather  will  be  warm. 
--  Whistle  while  you  walk. 

Slavs,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italians,  Japanese,  for  w;  all  nationali 
ties  for  wh. 

i 

Bat  the  ball  against  the  wall. 
-rLily  lost  Lottie's  large  yellow  lemon. 
^Light  the  lamp  and  learn  your  lesson. 

The  fly  flew  from  the  flower  into  the  flame. 
—Please  do  not  play  with  the  plums  on  the  plate. 

On  the  blind  man's  blanket  was  a  black  blot. 

Class,  clap  your  clean  hands,  then  clasp  them. 
- '  This  book  case  has  twelve  shelves. 

Eleven  little  beetles  crawled  into  a  hole. 

-  I  belong  to  a  long-lived  family. 

Chinese,  Japanese ;  most  nationalities  for  final  1. 

Note:  To  prepare  for  drills  for  consonant  blends  with  1,  practice 
first  the  syllable  without  the  initial  consonant:  lay,  lay,  play;  lass, 
lass,  class ;  lot,  lot,  blot. 


24  English  Pronunciation 


'-  The  robin  and  the  wren  ran  a  race. 
'Raise  your  right  hand  and  rap  on  the  door. 

-  Father,  mother,  brother  and  sister  are  writing  letters. 
The  water  that  Robert  was  drinking  dripped  on  her  dress. 
On  Friday,  Frank  and  his  friend  will  fry  fresh  fish. 

•  The  railroad  train  runs  on  the  track. 
I  trimmed  three  trees  for  Christmas. 

All  nationalities,  especially  Chinese,  Japanese. 

Note:  To  prepare  for  drills  for  consonant  blends  with  r,  practice 
first  the  syllable  without  the  initial  consonant:  rink,  rink,  drink; 
rain,  rain,  train. 

S,  Z 

I  saw  the  sun  set  this  evening  at  half  past  six. 
Strawberries  are  sweet  in  summer. 
Sam  Smith  has  six  small  sisters. 

One  Sunday  in  summer  I  saw  seven  sisters  swimming  in  the  sea. 
He  struck  the  horse  with  a  strong  strap. 
Boys,  take  your  pencils  in  your  hands  and  close  your  eyes. 
Chinese,  Japanese;  most  nationalities  have  the  tendency  to  use  s 
for  final  z,  making  eyes  sound  like  ice,  etc. 

sh,  zh,  as  in  azure 

+  She  has  sharp  shears. 
Show  me  your  shoes. 
She  sees  the  ship  sailing  on  the  sea. 
She  bought  shirts  and  shoes  at  a  shop. 
Across  the  ocean  are  many  great  nations. 
Treasures  beyond  measure  lie  buried  in  the  azure  ocean. 
Chinese,  Japanese,  Spanish,  Scandinavians. 

ch,  j 

The  child  has  chalk  on  his  chin. 

Scratch  the  match  on  a  chair. 

Chickens  are  cheap  in  China. 

This  is  my  cheek  and  this  is  my  chin. 

John  has  a  job  on  the  bridge. 

In  June  Julia  will  take  a  long  journey. 

Jane  made  a  jar  of  jam  and  a  jar  of  jelly. 

Japanese  for  ch ;  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Japanese,  for  j ;  all  nationali 
ties  have  the  tendency  to  use  ch  for  final  j,  ridge  sounding  like  rich, 
etc. 

Note:  If  j  is  uttered  with  much  force,  it  tends  to  become  ch,  so 
pupils  who  have  this  difficulty  should  be  taught  to  pronounce  the 
sound  gently.  It  may  help  to  practice  this  exercise. 

de,  de,  de,  de. 

zhe,  zhe,  zhe,  zhe. 

.ie,  je,  je,  je. 


for  Foreigners  25 

VOWELS 

Vowels  are  best  taught  by  contrast  with  familiar  sounds.  In  all 
languages  occur  vowels  corresponding  to  those  in  la,  let,  leap,  loss, 
loose.  In  Spanish,  Japanese,  Czech,  there  occur  only  these  five  vowels. 
If  the  foreigner  is  shown  the  relation  of  the  new  vowels  to  his  native 
sounds,  he  can  more  easily  recognize  their  peculiar  quality. 

Vowels  may  be  arranged  in  an  ascending  scale,  illustrative  of  the 
increasing  height  of  the  tongue,  and  the  varying  position  of  the  high 
est  point.  Diagram  6  shows  what  part  of  the  tongue  is  raised  and 
how  high  it  is  raised  during  the  utterance  of  the  different  English 
vowels.  The  location  of  the  vowel  in  the  diagram  corresponds  roughly 
to  the  position  of  the  highest  part  of  the  tongue  during  the  articula 
tion  of  that  vowel. 

,A|Alt 


FIG.  6.  Before  the  mirror,  practice  these  vowels  in  pairs,  careful  attention  being 
given  to  the  change  of  lip  shape,  which  will  be  accompanied  by  a  corresponding  tongue 
position  which  can  not  be  so  easily  seen. 

Before  the  mirror,  practice  these  vowels  in  pairs,  careful  attention 
being  given  to  the  change  of  lip  shape,  which  will  be  accompanied 
by  a  corresponding  tongue  position  which  can  not  be  so  easily  seen. 

calm,  come,  come,  calm.  In  passing  from  the  first  vowel  to 

psalm,  some,  some,  psalm.        the  second,  the  lips  are  more  closed, 
balm,  bum,  bum,  balm.  contracted     at     the     corners,     the 

tongue  rises  in  the  middle. 

barn,  burn,  burn,  barn.  In   passing   from   first   vowel   to 

far,  fur,  fur,  far.  second,  lips  are  tensed,  contracted 

star,  stir,  stir,  star.  at  corner  and  more  closed,  tongue 

is  tensed  and  raised  in  middle. 

bud,  bird,  bird,  bud.  In    passing    from    first    vowel    to 

hut,  hurt,  hurt,  hut.  second,    lips    and    tongue    tensed; 

shut,  shirt,  shirt,  shut.  lip     shape     and     tongue     position 

almost  the  same  for  both. 


26  English  Pronunciation 

are,  all,  all,  are.  In   passing   from  first  vowel   to 

far,  fall,  fall,  far.  second,  lips  are  more  closed,  corner 

car,  call,  call,  car.  of  lips  contracted,  tongue  is  pulled 

back  and  back  of  tongue  raised. 

bought,  boat,  boat,  bought.  In  passing  from  first  vowel  to 
caught,  coat,  coat,  caught,  second,  lips  are  rounded  and  more 
ball,  bowl,  bowl,  ball.  closed,  tongue  is  pulled  back,  and 

raised  higher  and  farther  back. 

far,  fat,  fat,  far.  In   passing   from  first  vowel   to 

car,  cat,  cat,  car.  second,    lips    more    closed,    highest 

psalm,  Sam,  Sam,  psalm.         part  of  tongue  father  forward, 
bed,  bad,  bad,  bed.  In   passing   from   first  vowel  to 

set,  sat,  sat,  set.  second,  lips  open  slightly,  elevated 

men,  man,  man,  men.  part  of  tongue  moves  forward  and 

lower. 

sheep,  ship,  ship,  sheep.  In   passing   from   first   vowel   to 

deep,  dip,  dip,  deep.  second,  lips  and  tongue  relax;  lip 

deed,  did,  did,  deed.  shape     and     tongue     position     are 

almost  the  same  for  both. 

SONGS  FOR  ARTICULATION  DRILLS 

Songs  may  be  used  very  effectually  as  articulation  drills.  Through 
the  melody  and  rhythm  the  exercise  loses  its  "drill"  character  and 
the  children  repeat  the  syllables  with  enjoyment.  If  in  connection 
with  the  song  other  muscular  activities  are  devised,  such  as  beating 
an  imaginary  drum  for  number  3,  raising  and  lowering  the  thumbs  for 
4,  going  through  the  motions  of  ringing  the  bell  for  7,  etc.,  the 
management  of  the  tongue  will  be  perceptibly  freer.  Also  if  after 
singing  the  song  once,  the  children  are  allowed  to  run  or  dance  or 
"fly"  about  the  room,  as  the  case  may  be,  to  the  accompaniment  of 
the  melody  of  the  song,  they  will  sing  it  much  better  when  they 
return  to  their  places. 

The  following  songs  in  familiar  children's  song  books  are  sug 
gested  as  good  material  for  articular  drills. 

Baker  and  Kohlsaat,  Songs  for  Little  Children.     Abingdon  Press. 

Page 

Little  Chickens 7  Exercise  for  p. 

Snow  Birds 7  Exercise  for  t. 

The  Canary 16  Exercise  for  ch,  r. 

Raindrops 34  Exercise  for  t,  p. 

Firemen 48  Exercise  for  ng. 

Children  Playing 57  Exercise  for  ng. 

Jones  and  Barbour,  Child  Land  in  Song  and  Rhythm.  Schmidt, 
Boston. 

Page 

Robin  Redbreast 15  Exercise  for  ch,  r. 

Sparrows 16  Exercise  for  t. 

Chicks 20  Exercise  tor  p. 

The  Bells. _  37  Exercise  for  ng. 


for  Foreigners  27 

Words  to  the  Songs 

V  -  th.     Little  Monkey  in  the  Tree. 

Little  monkey  in  the  tree, 
This  is  what  he  says  to  me. 
Tha,  tha,  tha,  the,  the,  the, 
Tha,  tha,  the ! 

Little  monkey  shows  his  teeth. 
Hear  him  chatter,  eeth,  eeth,  eeth ! 
Outh,  outh,  outh,  eeth,  eeth,  eeth, 
Outh,  outh,  eeth ! 

III  -  th.     Drum  Rhythm. 

Thumpity,  thumpity,  thump,  thump,  thump, 
Thumpity,  thumpity,  thump,  thump,  thump, 
Thumpity,  thumpity,  thump,  thump,  thump, 
Thumpity,  thumpity,  thump,  thump,  thump, 
Thumpity,  thumpity,  thump,  thump,  thump, 
Thumpity,  thumpity,  thump. 

IV  -  th.     Thumbs  Up. 

Thumbs  up,  thumbs  down, 
Thumbs  up,  thumbs  down, 
Thumbs  up,  thumbs  down, 
Thumbs  are  down. 

II  -  s.     Song  of  the  Teakettle. 

The  teakettle  sits  on  the  stove,  s-s, 
And  sings  a  gay  little  song,  s-s, 

S S-S-S-,    S S-S-S-,    S ,    S ,    S. 

VI  -  h.     All  the  Children  Laugh  with  Glee. 

All  the  children  laugh  with  glee ; 
Ha,  ha,  ha,  he,  he,  he ! 
Open  mouths  and  smiling  so, 
Ha,  ha,  ha,  ho,  ho,  ho ! 

I  -  k.     Clock  Song. 

The  little  clock  stands  on  a  shelf  in  its  place. 
Tick,  tock,  tick,  tock. 

Has  little  black  hands  and  a  little  white  face, 
Tick,  tock,  tick ! 

VII  -  ng.     Bell  Song. 

Hear  the  bell  ring,  ting-a-ling-a-ling ! 
Ding  dong,  ding,  dong,  ting-a-ling-a-ling! 
Hear  the  bells  ring,  ting-a-ling-a-ling ! 
Ding,  dong,  ding! 

VIII  -  v.     Valentine  Song. 

Valentine,  valentine, 
Oh !  My  pretty  valentine  ! 
Red  and  blue,  yellow  too, 


28 

I 


English  Pronunciation 


A^. 


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*            •       J     w    j 

r    j       r        i 

(cr\<2    J 

y      j       a          j. 

\YO 

c  c  c    c  r  c 

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E>    . 

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C  • 

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r      (-. 

r 

r         r       P 

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s           r 

fr 

^  '                                         I 

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/?                    „                         IX 

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1         r~    1~    r* 

rs^ 

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P             J                       Is"                        I 

PR     ^          ir 

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Stz    C      C 

?     C    fi 

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r    r   r 
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f     r 

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xl.           J 

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g!2     x    ,  „         J 

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for  Foreigners 


29 


II 
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t           10 

—  2  

A-+sv^*yi        o. 

IT"  T 

f     f 

c"i  s~ 

._         l: 

L^'          C      * 

fe      K 

p          Afr     _k 

•      P 

*  j»         r     • 

P     /• 

1         1 

»      r 

x^  £_ 

p               1 

1         1 

^ 

C*D  °  ' 

it.-* 

-33 

c^*^ 

y 

s. 

T"  T" 

s-  s-  s- 

"i*"     ~f~ 

s- 

f         f 

s-  S-     S- 

CE        r     r 

r         fe 

P        J*     -H 

i         S 

v'    ^  r  —  E— 

f        P 

r    1   • 

^      V 

30 

III 

(H) 


English  Pronunciation 


=3    JX  *    .  J 


i 


£3 


Tvu*™*'\ 


Hm 


I 


J J- 


ifc 


Tt^AA^v^U}^ 


t 

' 


T  ~3~ 

/^V-V^^vVJ .  /-KA-<^>^V  K> 

/  a' 


for  Foreigners 

III — Continued. 


31 


l(^A^^H^v^v  ( 


H^ 


« 


f 


F 


ipi 


K        If 


32 
V 


English  Pronunciation 


* 


j-    j   j 


? 


f3 


r  ^f 


f 


^W 


j — j- 


3"T 


@ 


i 


f 


I 


f 


P^ 


33 


te  5 


T£T 


/ft)*'      J 

. 

i        J       J         *-f 

Kir  ^              * 

•            I 

J                            A 

J 

• 

tf 
(9  CLJB^V.    'YWc 

.    T- 

-r 

\.      y 

A^Uv^Xvvx^a    AO4 

-fr-  -f 

^>  ,      p     r 

r 

U                m. 

-»/'     b     VN                            p 

m         -r 

^         r                 ^ 

/  fc  ^°   L       r 

\           /- 

T"                               E 

/Lv-i  ,       / 

•r 

& 

J 

-r 

^r»tt  b    i«t         ' 

/-* 

|                    < 

K         • 

\3J              ~ 

. 

j 

i       0        j 

rfcc  .    >^a.  .  1 

A 

Lx! 

l^i.1 

^o!  - 

L' 

-f~ 

^—  r- 

^ 

L 

f^*                   "        1* 

E| 

P 

^^ 

fefcEsza         W 

•                 T- 

i 

•          ~x"* 

/   V*     ,  w       1                      I 

^^     -1-. 

34 


English  Pronunciation 


VII 
fy\  rt  ) 


/Vl*            \                 \             I 

*      9 

J         •"          d 

J5Z3     *•      '  •           J        <* 

^—  —  —  •       i 

ll/  /     £         *            i         • 

*L     *r        *f 

^i'      ^^\^ 

'     -r  ~f     f"   f: 
^ 

r  lr^ 
*^" 

P         c          r 

w^5     -    A.     -    K^V^O 

T           b 

m 

fv^-/         ^             f 

B 

j*     ^f* 

*£-*             r          r        r 

A                          m 

r   t 

s  u      /•           b                          & 

^                           1 

r 

,    -T                               r 

L      ' 

F        ^ 

/> 

T 

h        ^ 

r 

IV 

f  y     i        i               i 

J 

J 

/K    J            1             /         J 

^        *        J 

;        cA 

cn  ^       ^        J      • 

Mlv'  ^j*                 j»                •»*           Sg 

c    c 

C         g 

'            r     >    J^ 

(Qvv^-^"vl-    T  1 

_>                     ^             r            * 

^  2 

t         1 

u 

r>  *        *  »         i       *  » 

ip 

s 

v4               SI 

B 

r     r 

/                   u 

PR 

I      h 

V           -                                 1 

' 

n        i 

-K 

X        J                J                                  < 

r     J 

V                j*"                 j 

/L     *                           1           / 

J     ^      « 

4^                 r"vt 

O    -           ^            J         J 

C? 

SZ    ff            -             i         « 

*i     **F*    ^i* 

^*i*        £3^* 

T      f"       f"  -f" 

G^p-      '( 

r""   ^ 

^N«                          ^                                 •    • 

^P  1 

*   *L 

r£             u          ^      /» 

r   li 

x     r          r           i        r 

r"              i  A 

/ 

r        /r 

L    ' 

p         ^ 

F 

/ 

r 

f         I                   \                                                                                                   'i 

J 

A                                               \                                  i                            •€ 

o  • 

*yf 

f  f}   ^          y             J           J 

^^  < 

/-^ 

VL-'  *f                         ^                    *i                     ^1 

^^  • 

f                          f 

-^ 

C\*    P       ~*              f       +* 

V'  r      c       r     c 

•^1- 

/    /          r                   r 

^  - 

X—  •• 

Foreigners 


35 


VIII 


O-V^*   , 

>J 


i 


f 


5 


2 


F=^f 


? 


^ 


Pi 


f 


3E 


i= 


^^ 


o 


p       r 


P 


I 


V^ 


ig- 


f 


Kh*     d  ,i  

=s  —  ^~ 

*^ 

W  P  P  

-^g  —  *l^ 

f^  —  ^ 

==:  P^ 

P           P         /* 
JujLA.   V^—  -Y 

P      r 

V<3UJCO^- 

A/v~^v^^.         — 

R    p 

(H'tt       f            p 

r     P 

p~> 

p 

^d 

.—  * 

U-.-HP-           r 

^ 

p  

18236     4-22     2500 


. 

LIBRARY  OF  EDUCATl 
RSITY  OF  CAUFORNL 
BERKELEY.  CALIFORNIA, 


ENGLISH  PRONUNCIATION 
FOR  FOREIGNERS 


SARAH  T.  BARROWS 

State  Teachers  College,  San  Francisco,  California 

"OCUJsEHTS  DEPARTMENT 


x't 


Published  by 

THE  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

DIVISION  OF  IMMIGRANT  EDUCATION    / 


Music  by    Mrs.   Mary    McCauley 
Drawings  by  Miss  Olive  Johnson 

Both  of 
State  Teachers  College,  San  Francisco 


CALIFORNIA  STATE  PRINTING  OFFICE 

FRANK  J.  SMITH,  Superintendent 

SACRAMENTO.  1924 


FIGURE  1. 


1.  Nasal  cavity. 

2.  Alveole. 

3.  Hard  palate. 
1.  Soft  palate. 


5.  Uvula. 

6.  Epiglottis. 

7.  Larynx. 

8.  Vocal  chords. 


INTRODUCTION 

The  foreigner  finds  English  pronunciation  difficult  because  he  has 
acquired,  through  years  of  speaking  his  native  tongue,  not  only  fixed 
habits  of  using  his  organs  of  speech,  but  habits  of  hearing  speech  sounds. 
When  he  hears  a  new  sound  he  tries  to  recognize  in  it  one  of  his  own 
sounds.  Thus  he  says  "dis"  for  "this"  because  to  his  ears  they  sound 
alike. 

It  is  important  therefore  that  the  pupil  hear  the  English  words 
correctly ;  and  the  teacher  may  help  him  to  do  this  if  she  will  show  him 
the  movements  of  the  lips  and  tongue  that  produce  the  sound,  for  our 
eyes  are  better  trained  than  our  ears  to  distinguish  differences.  The 
pupil  will  hear  the  sounds  more  accurately,  the  more  closely  to  his  ear 
they  are  pronounced. 

If  words  containing  difficult  sounds  are  not  taught  until  the  sounds 
themselves  have  been  mastered,  the  task  of  learning  to  pronounce  the 
words  will  be  easier.  The  pupil  should  also  have  the  opportunity  of 
hearing  each  word  pronounced  accurately  and  distinctly  many  times 
before  he  attempts  to  utter  it  himself;  and  the  teacher  should  guard 
against  the  impulse  to  repeat  the  pupil's  mistakes,  lest  she  strengthen 
him  in  his  wrong  habits. 

The  teacher  will  need  to  analyze  very  carefully  each  word  to  ascertain 
just  what  sounds  actually  are  contained  in  it,  for  English  spelling  is 
often  misleading  rather  than  helpful  in  the  determination  of  correct 
pronunciation.  Thus  the  pronunciation  of  "handkerchief"  according 
to  its  spelling  leads  to  error;  a  better  spelling  would  be  "hangker- 
chif."  "Roses"  and  "doses"  look  more  alike  than  they  sound;  as 
do  war  and  far,  fury  and  bury,  rough  and  cough. 

The  teacher  will  find  a  study  of  her  own  speech  organs  and  their 
movements  during  speech  very  helpful.  With  mirror  in  hand  she 
should  observe  carefully  how  she  forms  each  speech  sound;  and  by 
watching  her  pupil's  lips  she  can  often  discover  the  mechanical  reason 
for  his  mispronunciations. 

In  the  following  study  of  English  sounds  are  included  only  those 
which  offer  difficulty  to  foreigners.  The  descriptions  of  the  sounds  are 
not  supposed  to  prescribe  the  only  correct  way  to  utter  the  sounds,  but 
to  offer  the  foreigner  a  recipe,  which  if  followed  will  enable  him  to 
produce  the  sounds  correctly. 

2—33707 


English  Pronunciation 
CONSONANTS 


Consonants  are  formed  by  a  stoppage  of  the  breath  in  some  part  of 
the  mouth.  The  stoppage  may  be  complete  as  in  p,  t,  k,  b,  d,  g,  in  which 
case  the  air  escapes  with  an  explosive  sound  when  the  mouth  is  suddenly 
opened ;  or  it  may  be  incomplete,  as  in  s,  sh,  z,  f ,  v,  1,  r,  th,  in  which 
case  the  air  rubs  against  the  sides  of  the  narrow  channel,  issuing  from 
the  mouth  with  audible  friction.  In  the  case  of  m,  n,  ng,  the  mouth  is 
completely  blocked  and  the  air  escapes  through  the  nose. 

th;  two  sounds  as  in  thin,  this 

Articulation.  Place  the  tongue  between  the  teeth,  the  upper  edge  of 
the  tongue  resting  against  the  inner  edges  of  the  upper  front  teeth. 
In  teaching  foreigners  it  may  be  necessary  to  protrude  the  tongue 
visibly.  For  th  in  thin  the  vocal  cords  do  not  vibrate;  they  vibrate 
for  th  in  this. 

Probable  mistakes.  For  th  in  thin  may  be  used:  s,  t,  or  f ;  for  th  in 
this :  z,  d,  v. 

All  nationalities  except  Greek  will  have  difficulty  with  th. 


FIG.  2.     Diagram  to  show  the  position  of  the  tongue  in  the  formation  of  th. 

h  as  in  hat 

Articulation,  h  is  merely  breath,  modified  by  the  shape  of  the  mouth 
for  the  utterance  of  the  following  vowel.  The  vocal  chords  do  not 
vibrate. 

Probable  mistakes,  h  may  be  omitted  entirely.  Sometimes  when 
foreigners  have  learned  to  use  h,  they  use  it  where  it  does  not  belong, 
pronouncing,  for  example,  both  air  and  hair  alike,  as  hair. 

Spanish,  Italians,  Portuguese  have  difficulty  with  h. 


for  Foreigners  5 

f  as  in  fat,  cough,  telephone 

Articulation.  Place  the  upper  teeth  against  the  lower  lip  and  let 
the  air  escape  through  the  openings  of  the  teeth.  The  vocal  chords  do 
not  vibrate.  A  voiceless  v. 

Probable  mistakes,     h  may  be  substituted. 

Japanese  have  difficulty  with  f. 

v  as  in  vine 

Articulation.  Place  the  upper  teeth  against  the  lower  lip  and  let  the 
air  escape  through  the  openings  of  the  teeth.  The  vocal  chords  vibrate. 
A  voiced  v. 

Probable  mistakes.  For  v  may  be  substituted  w,  or  a  b-like  sound 
made  by  bringing  the  lips  close  together,  without  completely  closing 
them.  For  final  v,  f  is  often  used. 

Spanish,  Portuguese,  Japanese,  Chinese  have  trouble  with  v;  most 
nationalities  use  the  voiceless  form  f  instead  of  final  v. 

p  as  in  pat 

Articulation.  Close  the  lips  completely,  then  open  them  suddenly  so 
that  the  air  escapes  with  a  kind  of  explosion.  The  vocal  chords  do  not 
vibrate.  A  voiceless  b. 

Probable  mistakes.  Initial  p  may  be  exploded  without  the  little 
puff  of  breath  following,  customary  in  American  speech,  so  that  the 
sound  is  heard  by  us  as  b ;  final  p  may  be  unexplored  and  will  seem  to 
us  to  have  been  omitted. 

Spanish,  Italians,  Portuguese,  Japanese  omit  the  puff  of  breath  after 
the  explosion ;  Chinese  omit  the  final  explosion. 

b  as  in  ~bit 

Articulation.  Close  the  lips  completely,  then  open  them  suddenly 
so  that  the  air  escapes  with  a  kind  of  explosion.  The  vocal  chords 
vibrate.  A  voiced  p. 

Probable  mistakes.  For  b  may  be  used  a  v-like  sound,  made  by 
bringing  the  lips  close  together  without  actual  contact;  for  final  b  is 
sometimes  used  p.  Final  b  is  sometimes  not  exploded. 

Spanish,  Portuguese  sometimes  do  not  make  the  complete  contact 
for  b;  Chinese  do  not  explode  final  b;  and  most  nationalities,  very 
noticeably  Scandinavians,  Chinese  use  p  instead  of  final  b. 


rronuncianon 

t  as  in  tin,  passed 

Articulation.  Block  the  mouth  by  placing  the  front  edge  of  the 
tongue  against  the  gums  back  of  the  teeth;  then  drop  the  tongue  sud 
denly  so  that  the  air  escapes  with  a  kind  of  explosion.  The  vocal 
chords  do  not  vibrate.  A  voiceless  d. 

Probable  mistakes.  The  tongue  may  be  placed  against  the  teeth,  or 
even  between  them,  and  the  air  so  slightly  exploded  that  the  sound 
resembles  t-th  in  the  phrase  not  think;  or  there  may  be  no  puff  of  breath 
following  the  explosion  which  is  customary  in  English  in  initial  t,  so 
that  it  sounds  to  our  ears  like  d ;  or  final  t  may  be  unexploded,  so  that 
it  seems  to  us  to  have  been  omitted. 

Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italians,  Slavs,  Japanese  have  difficulty  with 
English  t ;  Chinese  do  not  explode  final  t. 

d  as  in  do 

Articulation.  Block  the  mouth  by  placing  the  front  edge  of  the 
tongue  against  the  gums  back  of  the  teeth;  then  drop  the  tongue  sud 
denly  so  that  the  air  escapes  with  a  kind  of  explosion.  The  vocal  chords 
vibrate.  A  voiced  t. 

Probable  mistakes.  The  tongue  may  be  placed  against  the  teeth  or 
even  between  them,  and  the  air  so  lightly  exploded  that  the  sound 
resembles  d-dh  in  the  phrase  read  this;  sometimes  the  pressure  of  the 
tongue  against  the  teeth  is  so  slight  that  there  is  no  explosion  and  the 
sound  is  much  like  English  th  in  bathe;  if  final,  t  is  often  substituted 
for  d,  or  there  may  be  no  explosion  so  that  the  sound  seems  to  us  to 
have  been  omitted  altogether. 

Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italians,  Greeks,  Slavs,  Japanese  form  d  dif 
ferently  from  English;  Spanish  and  Portuguese  will  use  a  sound 
resembling  th  except  when  initial;  Chinese  do  not  explode  final  d,  and 
most  nationalities  have  the  tendency  to  use  t  for  final  d. 

k  as  in  kite,  cat,  quite 

Articulation.  Raise  the  back  of  the  tongue  against  the  soft  palate, 
completely  blocking  the  mouth ;  then  drop  the  tongue  suddenly  so  that 
the  air  escapes  with  a  kind  of  explosion.  The  vocal  chords  do  not 
vibrate.  A  voiceless  g. 

Probable  mistakes.  If  initial  k  is  uttered  without  the  little  puff 
of  breath  following  to  which  we  are  accustomed,  the  sound  will  seem 
to  our  ears  like  g  in  go.  If  the  tongue  is  not  dropped  in  final  k,  so 
that  there  is  no  explosion,  the  sound  seems  to  us  to  have  been  omitted. 

Spanish,  Italian,  Portuguese,  Greek,  French  omit  the  puff  of  breath 
after  the  explosion  in  initial  k;  Chinese  do  not  explode  final  k. 


for  Foreigners 


7 


g  as  in  go 

Articulation.  Raise  the  back  of  the  tongue  against  the  soft  palate, 
completely  blocking  the  mouth,  then  drop  the  tongue  suddenly,  so  that 
the  air  escapes  with  a  kind  of  explosion.  The  vocal  chords  vibrate. 
A  voiced  k. 

Probable  mistakes.  If  the  tongue  does  not  form  an  actual  contact 
with  the  soft  palate  there  can  be  no  explosion,  but  instead  a  rougli 
kind  of  sound  for  which  English  has  nothing  corresponding.  For  final 
g  is  sometimes  used  k,  sometimes  ng,  or  k  preceded  by  ng. 

Spanish,  Portuguese,  Greeks  pronounce  g  without  making  the  com 
plete  closure;  Chinese  and  Japanese  have  the  tendency  to  use  ng  or 
ng-k  when  g  is  final.  Thus  ''bag"  sounds  like  "bang"  or  "bank." 
Most  non-English  speaking  nationalities  use  k  instead  of  final  g. 

ng  as  in  sing,  sink 

Articulation.  Raise  the  back  of  the  tongue  against  the  soft  palate, 
completely  blocking  the  mouth,  and  send  the  breath  out  through  the 
nose.  The  vocal  chords  vibrate.  It  is  the  same  articulation  as  for  g, 
except  that  the  breath,  instead  of  escaping  from  the  mouth  with  an 
explosion,  comes  out  gently  through  the  nose. 

Probable  mistakes,  n  is  sometimes  substituted  for  ng;  sometimes 
n  or  ng,  followed  by  g  or  k.  Sing  may  be  pronounced  sin,  sin-g,  sing-g 
or  sing-k. 

Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italians,  Slavs,  Scandinavians  often  make  this 
mistake. 

Note:  Because  the  sound  is  represented  in  English  by  two  letters, 
ng,  people  sometimes  think  that  the  sound  itself  has  two  parts  and 
they  talk  of  "leaving  off  the  g."  But  saying  doin'  for  doing  is  not 
leaving  off  the  g;  it  is  simply  using  n  instead  of  ng,  just  as  the  child 
who  says  "det"  for  "get"  is  using  d  instead  of  g. 


Natal 


FIG.  3.     Diagrams  to  show  the  difference  in  the  articulation  of  ng  and  k,  g. 


8  English  Pronunciation 

w  as  in  wet 

Articulation.  Round  the  lips  and  raise  the  tongue  as  for  u  in  truth 
but  bring  the  lips  so  closely  together  that  the  air  in  passing  through 
rubs  against  them  audibly.  The  vocal  chords  vibrate.  A  voiced  wh. 

Probable  mistakes,  v  as  in  vine  may  be  used ;  or  w  may  be  formed 
with  the  lips  straight  instead  of  rounded.  This  gives  a  v-like  sound. 

Slavs,  Italians,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Scandinavians  have  difficulty 
with  w ;  Japanese  find  it  difficult  in  such  words  as  woo,  wood,  woman. 

wh  as  in  whet 

Articulation.  Round  the  lips  and  raise  the  tongue  as  for  u  in  truth 
but  bring  the  lips  so  close  together  that  the  air  in  passing  through  rubs 
against  them  audibly.  The  vocal  chords  do  not  vibrate.  A  voiceless  w. 

Probable  mistakes,  w  is  used  instead  of  wh,  and  any  mistake  that 
is  made  for  w  will  be  repeated  for  wh. 

All  foreigners  have  difficulty  with  wh.  Since  in  England  best  usage 
prescribes  w,  not  wh,  it  seems  useless  to  insist  that  the  foreigner  learn 
this  sound,  if  he  finds  it  very  difficult. 

1  as  in  let 

Articulation.  Place  the  tip  of  the  slightly  concave  tongue  against 
the  gums  back  of  the  teeth  in  such  a  way  as  to  block  the  front  of  the 
mouth,  leaving  the  sides  of  the  tongue  free,  over  which  the  air  issues. 
The  vocal  chords  vibrate. 

Probable  mistakes.  1  is  sometimes  omitted ;  w  or  r  may  be  substitu 
ted  for  it.  European  1  differs  from  the  American  sound  chiefly  in  the 
shape  of  the  tongue,  which  is  convex  for  European  and  concave  for 
American  1.  For  American  1  also  the  tongue  is  applied  a  little  father 
back  than  for  European  1.  Unless  1  is  final,  this  difference  in  quality 
is  not  very  noticeable. 

Japanese  have  serious  difficulty  with  1.  The  Chinese  have  a  sound 
which  has  some  resemblance  to  1,  which  they  use  for  both  1  and  r. 
Europeans  will  use  their  own  1,  which  when  final  will  give  the  word  a 
foreign  sound. 

r  as  in  rose 

Articulation.  Place  the  sides  of  the  tongue  against  the  upper  back 
teeth,  raising  the  tip  of  the  tongue  toward,  but  not  touching  the  gums 
back  of  the  front  teeth.  The  lips  are  parted  but  not  rounded.  The 
vocal  chords  vibrate. 

Probable  mistakes.  Most  Europeans  trill  r,  either  with  the  tongue 
tip  against  the  teeth,  or  with  the  tip  of  the  soft  palate  against  the  back 
of  the  tongue.  Orientals  confuse  r  with  1. 


for  Foreigners  9 

All  Continental  Europeans  find  r  difficult;  Japanese  and  Chinese 
confuse  it  with  1  and  find  it  very  difficult.  The  Japanese  have  a  sound 
somewhat  resembling  r  which  they  use  for  both  1  and  r. 

Note:  Since  many  careful  speakers  omit  final  r  or  r  followed  by  a 
consonant,  as  in  bar,  barn,  it  seems  unnecessary  to  insist  that  foreigners 
make  the  effort  to  use  the  final  r.  Teachers  should  guard  against  the 
tendency  to  teach  initial  r  like  the  syllable  er  in  father ;  it  gives  a  rough, 
unnecessarily  unmusical  sound. 


FKI.  4.  These  palatograms  show  the  difference  between  the  articulation  of  1  and  r. 
The  darkened  portion  shows  where  the  tongue  touches  the  palate  in  forming  the 
sounds.  It  is  clear  that  for  1  the  tongue  touches  only  in  the  middle  behind  the  front 
teeth,  while  the  air  issues  over  the  sides  ;  for  r  the  tongue  touches  only  at  the  sides 
by  the  back  teeth  while  the  air  issues  over  the  tongue  tip. 

s  as  in  sit,  ice,  scene 

Articulation.  Bring  the  sides  of  the  tongue  into  contact  with  the 
upper  side  teeth  so  that  in  the  middle  a  rill  is  formed  through  which 
the  air  passes  in  a  narrow  stream,  striking  against  the  partly  closed 
teeth.  The  vocal  chords  do  not  vibrate.  A  voiceless  z. 

Probable  mistakes,    s  and  sh  are  sometimes  confused  with  each  other. 

Chinese  and  Japanese  have  difficulty  with  s,  especially  with  the 
vowels  in  see,  sip. 

Note :  Lisping  is  a  defect  common  to  all  nationalities. 

z  as  in  zebra,  rose,  has,  bridges 

Articulation.  Bring  the  sides  of  the  tongue  into  contact  with  the 
upper  side  teeth  so  that  in  the  middle  a  rill  is  formed  through  which 
the  air  passes  in  a  narrow  stream,  striking  against  the  partly  closed 
teeth.  The  vocal  chords  do  not  vibrate.  A  voiced  s. 

Probable  mistakes,     s  may  be  used,  especially  when  final. 


10 


English  Pronunciation 


Spanish,  Portuguese,  Swedish,  Japanese,  Chinese  have  no  z  sound; 
most  foreigners  use  s  instead  of  z  at  the  end  of  a  word ; 
like  "race,"  "phase"  like  "face,"  etc. 


sh  as  in  she,  ocean,  nation,  sure 

Articulation.  Bring  the  sides  of  the  tongue  into  contact  with  the 
upper  side  teeth,  but  not  so  far  forward  as  for  s,  so  that  a  broader 
groove  is  formed;  draw  back  the  tongue  slightly  so  that  the  stream  of 
breath  is  directed  to  a  lower  point  than  for  s ;  the  lips  are  somewhat 
protruded.  The  vocal  chords  do  not  vibrate.  A  voiceless  zh. 

Probable  mistakes.     For  sh  may  be  used  ch  or  s. 

Spanish,  Japanese,  Chinese  have  difficulty  with  sh. 

zh  as  in  azure,  vision 

Articulation.  Bring  the  sides  of  the  tongue  into  contact  with  the 
upper  side  teeth,  but  not  so  far  forward  as  for  z,  so  that  a  broader 
groove  is  formed;  draw  back  the  tongue  slightly  so  that  the  stream  of 
breath  is  directed  to  a  lower  point  than  for  z;  the  lips  are  somewhat 
protruded.  The  vocal  chords  vibrate.  A  voiced  sh. 

Probable  mistakes.     For  zh  may  be  used  j  or  sh. 

Spanish,  Portuguese,  Japanese,  Chinese,  Scandinavians  may  have 
difficulty  with  this  sound. 


FIG.  f>.  These  palatograms  show  the  difference  in  articulation  between  s,  z,  and 
sh,  zh.  The  darkened  portion  shows  where  the  tongue  touches  the  palate  when  form 
ing  the  sounds.  It  is  clear  that  the  sides  of  the  tongue  touch  much  less  surface  for 
sh  than  for  s,  and  the  channel  through  which  the  air  passes  is  much  broader.  This 
broader  channel  with  the  added  resonating  space  given  by  the  projecting  lips,  explains 
why  sh  is  not  as  sharp  and  clear  as  s. 

ch  as  in  cliin,  match 

Articulation.  Place  the  front  edge  of  the  tongue  against  the  gums 
back  of  the  teeth  as  for  t,  but  explode  the  t  by  dropping  the  tongue 


for  Foreigners  11 

into  the  position  for  sh.  The  vocal  chords  do  not  vibrate.  A  voice 
less  j. 

Probable  mistakes,  sh  may  be  used  for  ch,  t  at  the  beginning  being 
omitted. 

Japanese  often  fail  to  make  the  initial  explosion  sharp  enough  for 
English  usage.  Portuguese  use  sh  for  ch. 

j  as  in  just,  gem,  ridge 

Articulation.  Place  the  front  edge  of  the  tongue  against  the  gums 
back  of  the  teeth  as  for  d,  but  explode  the  d  by  dropping  the  tongue 
into  the  position  for  zh  as  in  azure.  The  vocal  chords  vibrate.  A 
voiced  ch. 

Probable  mistakes,     ch  may  be  used  for  j,  especially  when  final. 

Spanish  and  Portuguese  often  find  j  difficult;  most  nationalities  use 
ch  for  j  when  final.  Ridge  sounds  like  "rich,"  "badge"  like  "batch." 


VOWELS 

In  the  formation  of  vowels  the  lips,  teeth  and  tongue  do  not  form 
obstructions  which  impede  the  breath  as  it  issues  from  the  mouth,  as 
in  the  case  of  consonants;  they  merely  shape  the  mouth  cavity  which 
acts  as  a  resonating  chamber  for  speech  sound.  The  quality  or  color 
of  the  vowel  is  determined  largely  by  the  shape  of  this  resonating 
chamber. 

It  is  not  as  easy  to  demonstrate  the  articulation  of  vowels  as  of 
consonants,  since  their  quality  depends  to  a  great  extent  on  the  activity 
of  the  tongue  inside  of  the  mouth.  So  we  shall  have  to  depend  chiefly 
upon  imitation  in  teaching  vowels.  Attention  to  the  following  points 
will  help  the  foreigner  to  pronounce  English  vowels  correctly : 

1.  The  shape  and  tenseness  of  the  lips. 

2.  The  length  or  duration  of  the  sound. 

3.  The  breaking  of  the  longer  vowels  into  diphthongs. 

1.  The  lips  may  be  open  wide  (a  in  father)  ;  partly  open  (a  in  cat)  ; 
almost  closed  (i  in  bit)  ;  spread  (i  in  machine)  ;  rounded  (u  in  rule). 
They  may  be  tense  (i  in  machine)  ;  or  loose  (i  in  bit).     In  general  the 
tongue  has  the  same  degree  of  tenseness  as  tile  lips  and  for  each  lip 
shape  there  is  a  certain  tongue  movement  which  habitually  accompanies 
it ;  so  that  watching  the  lips  may  give  a  clue  to  the  activity  of  the  tongue. 

2.  The  length  of  a  vowel  will  depend  on  whether  it  is  in  a  stressed  or 
unstressed  syllable ;  the  vowel  a  is  longer  in  art  than  in  artistic.     Com 
pare  vowel  lengths  of  i  in  dip  and  diploma;  of  o  in  or  and  ornate. 

3 — 33707 


12  English  Pronunciation 

The  length  of  a  vowel  will  depend  on  whether  it  is  followed  by  an 
unstressed  syllable;  compare  the  vowel  length  in  bit  and  bitter,  car 
and  carnage,  stock  and  stocking,  sun  and  sunny. 

The  length  of  a  vowel  will  depend  on  the  following  sound.  It  is 
longest  if  final,  as  in  bee,  day,  toe ;  or  if  followed  by  a  voiced  consonant, 
as  in  bead,  dame,  toad.  It  is  not  so  long  if  followed  by  a  voiceless 
consonant,  as  in  beat,  date,  toast.  Compare  also:  bid,  bit;  cub,  cup; 
bed,  bet. 

3.  In  English  when  a  vowel,  on  account  of  its  position  in  the  word,  is 
long,  as  in  bee,  day,  toe,  too,  our  tendency  is  to  break  it  up  into  a 
diphthong;  that  is,  the  lips  change  their  shape  and  the  tongue  glides 
from  one  position  to  another  during  the  articulation  of  the  same  sound. 
This  is  especially  noticeable  in  day  and  toe ;  when  we  utter  the  vowel  in 
day,  the  tongue  moves  from  the  position  of  e  in  bed  to  i  in  bid;  for 
the  vowel  in  toe,  the  tongue  moves  from  the  position  of  the  vowel  o  in 
obey  to  that  in  too.  For  the  vowels  in  bee,  too,  the  tongue  becomes 
tenser  and  the  lips  close  slightly  toward  the  end  of  the  sound.  This 
change  in  quality  can  be  shown  to  the  foreigner  by  calling  his  attention 
to  the  changing  shape  of  the  lips,  and  before  the  mirror  he  can  learn 
to  utter  the  vowel  in  the  same  unstable  way. 

In  languages  other  than  English,  vowels  are  not  only  generally  pro 
nounced  much  shorter  than  ours,  but  they  are  pure ;  that  is,  the  tongue 
remains  in  the  same  position  for  the  entire  duration  of  the  sound.  Such 
words  as  coat,  shoe,  nose,  when  pronounced  by  foreigners,  sound  un 
finished  to  our  ears,  not  only  because  they  are  short,  but  because  of 
their  unchanging  quality. 

A  result  of  our  unphonetic  spelling  is  that  we  often  fail  to  hear 
sounds  as  they  really  are ;  we  do  not  recognize  that  the  two  vowels  in  ship 
and  sheep,  for  instance,  have  somewhat  the  same  relation  to  each  other 
as  light  and  dark  shades  of  the  same  color.  The  same  articulation, 
with  the  muscles  of  tongue  and  lips  tense,  gives  the  vowel  in  sheep ; 
with  the  muscles  relaxed,  the  vowel  in  ship.  These  two  vowels  are 
really  two  shades  of  the  same  sound. 

Thus  the  vowels  in  mate  and  met  belong  together;  in  loss  and  law; 
in  pull  and  pool ;  and  if  the  foreigner  lacks  one  of  the  pair  in  his  native 
tongue,  he  can  produce  the  other,  either  by  relaxing  or  tensing  his 
tongue,  as  the  case  may  be.  By  showing  the  pupils  how  the  lips  relax 
while  going  from  ee  to  i,  in  sheep  and  ship,  the  teacher  may  help  the 
pupil  to  the  right  utterance  of  ship,  for  when  the  lips  relax,  the  tongue 
relaxes  also. 

There  are  a  few  vowels  that  are  peculiar  to  English,  not  occurring 
in  other  languages.  For  them  the  foreigner  will  use  the  native  vowel 
that  seems  to  him  most  similar.  Sometimes  it  will  be  an  entirely 


for  Foreigners  13 

different  vowel,  as  when  he  pronounces  come  like  calm;  sometimes  it 
is  only  a  tense  form  of  a  lax  vowel,  as  when  he  pronounces  ship  like 
sheep.  Sometimes,  it  should  be  remembered,  what  seems  to  our  ears 
like  a  strange  vowel  is  merely  a  too  short  or  too  pure  form  of  our  own 
sound,  as  when  sheep  sounds  to  us  like  ship. 

The  vowel  in  come,  cup,  touch,  Wood 

Articulation.  Open  the  lips  wide  enough  to  admit  the  tip  of  the  little 
finger  between  the  teeth;  place  the  tongue  tip  against  the  lower  teeth 
and  raise  slightly  the  part  of  the  tongue  back  of  the  middle. 

Probable  mistakes.  For  this  vowel  will  be  used  the  a  in  father,  in 
which  case  the  mouth  opening  is  too  wide  and  the  elevated  part  of  the 
tongue  is  in  the  middle ;  or  a  vowel  similar  to  the  o  in  loss,  for  which  the 
lips  are  slightly  rounded  and  the  elevated  part  of  the  tongue  is  farther 
back  than  for  the  vowel  in  cup. 

All  nationalities  have  difficulty  with  this  vowel. 

The  vowel  in  burn,  word,  bird,  berth,  heard,  journey 

Articulation.  Contract  the  corners  of  the  lips  tensely,  open  the  lips 
wide  enough  to  admit  the  little  finger  between  the  teeth ;  pull  the  tongue 
tip  just  back  of  the  edges  of  the  upper  teeth  and  raise  tensely  the  part 
of  the  tongue  back  of  the  middle.  This  is  very  similar  to  the  vowel  in 
cup,  except  that  it  is  tenser.  It  is  always  followed  by  r. 

Probable  mistakes.  Sometimes  instead  of  burn  a  word  is  used  that 
sounds  something  like  barn ;  that  is,  the  mouth  is  too  wide  open  and  the 
tongue  too  flat;  or  the  word  may  sound  something  like  born,  the  lips 
being  rounded  and  the  back  of  the  tongue  raised.  As  most  foreigners 
find  r  difficult,  some  of  the  trouble  that  they  have  with  this  vowel  is  due 
to  the  following  r. 

All  nationalities  will  have  difficulty  with  this  sound;  Chinese  and 
Scandinavians  will,  however,  replace  the  vowel  by  one  of  their  own 
which  bears  considerable  resemblance  to  it. 

The  vowel  in  all,  awe,  cough,  water,  broad,  lord 

Articulation.  Kound  the  lips  slightly,  drawing  them  together  at  the 
corners ;  open  the  lips  wide  enough  to  permit  the  insertion  of  the  thumb 
between  the  teeth;  draw  the  tongue  back  so  that  the  tip  rests  against 
the  gums  of  the  lower  teeth,  and  raise  the  back  of  the  tongue  rather 
tensely.  This  is  similar  to  the  vowel  in  loss,  but  tenser. 

Probable  mistakes.  Sometimes  the  lax  o  sound,  similar  to  the  vowel 
in  loss,  is  used  in  these  words,  sometimes  the  vowel  in  father. 

Most  foreigners  pronounce  this  sound  more  or  less  imperfectly. 


English  Pronunciation 

The  vowel  in  cat 

Articulation.  Open  the  lips  so  as  to  take  the  middle  finger  well  in, 
contracting  slightly  the  lip  corners;  place  the  tongue  tip  against  the 
roots  of  the  lower  teeth  and  raise  slightly  the  part  of  the  tongue  in 
front  of  the  middle. 

Probable  mistakes,  The  foreigner  will  use  either  the  a  in  father  or 
e  in  met. 

All  foreigners  have  more  or  less  trouble  with  this  vowel. 

The  vowel  in  stone,  coat,  mould,  sew,  foe 

Articulation.  Round  the  lips,  with  the  corners  closely  drawn 
together;  drop  the  tip  of  the  tongue  and  draw  it  away  from  the  lower 
teeth,  raising  the  back  toward  the  soft  palate.  When  the  vowel  is 
prolonged  it  becomes  diphthongal,  closing  with  u  as  in  true. 

Probable  mistakes.  The  foreigner  will  use  his  own  o  sound,  similar 
to  o  in  loss ;  the  vowel  will  be  too  short  and  pure. 

Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italians,  Slavs,  Japanese,  Chinese  will  have 
difficulty  with  o. 

The  vowel  in  ship,  busy,  women 

Articulation.  Relax  the  lips,  stretch  them  slightly  as  for  a  smile; 
open  them  wide  enough  to  admit  the  tip  of  the  little  finger  between  the 
teeth.  Place  the  tongue  tip  against  the  lower  front  teeth  and  raise  the 
front  of  the  tongue  quite  close  to  the  hard  palate.  The  same  articula 
tion  with  tongue  and  lips  tense  will  give  the  vowel  in  bead,  seed,  piece, 
key. 

Probable  mistakes.  The  tense  vowel  as  in  sheep  may  be  used.  The 
vowel  will  be  too  short. 

Spanish,  Portuguese,  Slavs,  Japanese,  Chinese  may  have  difficulty 
with  this  sound. 

The  vowel  in  put,  book,  could,  wolf 

Articulation.  Relax  the  lips,  round  them  and  bring  them  very  close 
together,  so  that  the  teeth  are  almost  closed;  pull  back  the  tongue  and 
raise  the  back  part  of  the  tongue  near  to  the  soft  palate.  The  same 
articulation  with  tongue  and  lips  tense  and  closer  will  give  the  vowel 
in  truth,  cool,  shoe,  move,  fruit. 

Probable  mistakes.  The  tense  vowel  as  in  cool  may  be  used;  the 
vowel  may  be  too  short.  The  lips  may  be  straight,  instead  of  rounded, 
and  the  vowel  will  sound  very  unlike  the  English  sound. 

Spanish,  Italians,  Slavs  will  use  the  tense  vowel  as  in  cool ;  Japanese 
will  use  the  unrounded  vowel,  both  for  sound  in  book  and  in  cool. 


for  Foreigners  15 

DIPHTHONGS 

The  vowel  sounds  in  my,  ice;  house,  cow;  l>o\j,  noise;  muse,  few  arc 
diphthongs,  composed  of  two  distinct  sounds  which  melt  into  each 
other  and  give  the  impression  of  one  vowel. 

SPECIAL  DIFFICULTIES  DUE  TO  NATIVE  SPEECH 

Although  the  people  of  each  different  nationality  have  their  own 
peculiar  difficulties  with  English  pronunciation,  there  are  some  diffi 
culties  common  to  all.  The  habit  of  diphthongization  of  prolonged 
vowels,  as  in  day,  see,  two;  the  varying  vowel  length,  as  in  bead,  beading, 
beside;  the  marked  difference  between  stressed  and  unstressed  syllables 
and  the  peculiar  way  we  have  of  obscuring  the  vowel  in  an  unstressed 
syllable,  as  in  sofa,  breakfast ;  these  are  characteristic  English  traits. 

In  the  following  pages  attention  is  called  to  the  most  striking  differ 
ences  between  the  pronunciation  of  English  and  some  of  the  languages 
spoken  by  foreign  nationalities  largely  represented  in  California.  The 
teacher  can  often  help  the  pupil  to  avoid  mistakes  in  pronunciation  if 
she  knows  what  mistakes  he  is  likely  to  make  because  of  his  national 
speech  habits,  for  some  English  sounds  are  difficult  to  foreigners  of  one 
nationality  and  not  to  another. 

Italian 

Italians  help  out  their  own  language  with  gestures;  this  is  especially 
true  of  South  Italians  who  find  a  foreign  language  particularly  diffi 
cult.  They  have  the  habit  also  of  suppressing  unstressed  syllables, 
which  they  carry  over  into  English;  so  that  the  Italian  says  "pens" 
instead  of  "pencil,"  "win"  instead  of  "window";  he  is  much  more 
likely  to  fail  to  hear  the  unstressed  syllable  because  it  is  much  lighter 
than  in  his  own  language. 

"Words  end  in  vowels,  except  a  few  in  1,  r,  or  n;  therefore  Italians 
find  it  hard  to  pronounce  English  words  ending  in  a  consonant. 

Sounds  difficult  for  the  Italian : 

Consonants:  th,  wh,  h,  t,  d,  1,  r,  ng  (final),  w  (initial). 
Vowels :  in  cat,  put,  cup,  Imrn,  made,  mode,  all. 

Spanish 

The  Spanish  use  their  lips  very  energetically  and  their  tongues  rather 
sluggishly;  the  Americans  articulate  more  with  the  tongue  and  less 
with  the  lips.  Spanish  stress  is  very  even  and  falls  almost  always  on 
the  last  or  next  to  the  last  syllable. 


16  English  Pronunciation 

Words  generally  end  in  vowels  and  therefore  the  Spanish  find  it  hard 
to  pronounce  an  English  word  ending  in  a  consonant. 

Sounds  difficult  for  the  Spanish: 

Consonants :  th,  wh,  h,  v,  1,  r,  t,  d,  b,  g ;  ng  when  not  followed  by  k. 

Vowels :  in  cat,  put,  cup,  burn,  all,  mode. 

The  difficulties  of  Portuguese  and  Greeks  are  in  general  those  of  the 
Spanish. 

Scandinavian 

While  Danish,  Swedish  and  Norwegian  are  slightly  different  lan 
guages,  Scandinavians  have  in  general  the  same  difficulties  in  English 
pronunciation.  Final  consonants  have  the  tendency  to  become  voice 
less;  thus  bed  and  l)et,  raise  and  race  sound  alike. 

Sounds  difficult  for  Scandinavians : 
Consonants :  th,  w,  wh,  z,  j,  r,  rig,  t,  d. 
Vowels :  in  cat,  made,  mode,  cup,  burn,  all,  put. 

Slavs 

While  Russian,  Polish,  Czecho-Slovak  are  distinctly  different  lan 
guages,  Slavs  have  in  general  the  same  difficulties  in  English  pronun 
ciation.  One  noticeable  habit  which  they  have  in  common  is  to  raise 
the  blade  of  the  tongue  to  the  position  for  y  in  yet,  when  pronouncing 
consonants  followed  by  the  vowels  in  see  or  say.  To  our  ears  then  the 
sound  y  seems  to  be  inserted  before  the  vowel;  deep  will  sound  like 
dyeep. 

Sounds  difficult  for  Slavs : 

Consonants :  th,  t,  d,  w,  wh,  ng,  r,  h.  Slavic  h  is  voiced ;  r  is  sharply 
trilled. 

Vowels  in :  cap,  pin,  made,  mode,  all,  burn,  put. 

Japanese 

The  Japanese  move  their  lips  very  slightly  and  form  consonants 
indistinctly;  the  consonant  often  changes  according  to  the  following 
vowel,  for  instance,  see  becomes  she.  Stress  is  so  slight  that  we  can 
scarcely  distinguish  it. 

Syllables  consist  of  one  consonant  followed  by  a  vowel;  therefore 
consonant  blends  and  final  consonants  are  difficult  for  Japanese. 

Sounds  difficult  for  Japanese: 

Consonants:  t,  d,  th,  wh,  f,  v,  z,  1,  r,  ng  (unless  followed  by  k),  w 
(in  woo,  woman,  wood),  y  (in  year,  yeast). 


for  Foreigners  17 

The  Japanese  have  a  sound  somewhat  resembling  r  which  they  use 
in  English  words  spelled  either  with  1  or  r,  so  that  light  and  right 
sound  alike.  They  need  special  ear  training  to  learn  to  distinguish 
the  two  sounds.  Blends  with  1  are  especially  difficult. 

Vowels:  in  cat,  made,  mode,  all,  burn,  pin,  cup,  put. 

Chinese 

The  Chinese  move  their  lips  slightly,  and  seem  to  form  their  sounds 
in  the  back  of  the  mouth.  The  voice  rises  and  falls,  not  to  »id  in  the 
expression  of  thought,  as  in  English,  but  to  change  the  meaning  of 
individual  words.  They  have  few  difficulties  with  English  pronuncia 
tion,  but  those  few  are  very  difficult  to  overcome. 

Final  p,  b,  t,  d,  k,  g  are  not  exploded ;  final  b,  d,  g  become  unvoiced 
and  sound  to  our  ears  like  p,  t,  k,  respectively.  If  final  g  is  not  unvoiced 
it  is  replaced  by  ng,  or  ng  followed  by  k;  thus  Zmg  will  sound  like  bang 
or  lank. 

Sounds  difficult  for  Chinese: 

Consonants :  th,  wh,  g,  v,  1,  r ;  final  p,  b,  t,  d,  g,  k,  z ;  s  or  sh  according 
to  the  dialect  spoken. 

Chinese  have  a  consonant  somewhat  resembling  1,  which  they  use  in 
English  words  spelled  either  with  r  or  1,  so  that  light  and  right  will 
sound  alike.  They  need  special  ear  training  to  learn  to  distinguish  the 
two  sounds. 

Vowels:  in  cat,  mode,  all,  made,  burn. 

EXERCISES  FOR  ARTICULATION 

There  are  two  groups  of  exercises.  Those  for  little  children  are 
presented  in  the  form  of  games ;  in  them  it  is  planned  to  make  use  of 
the  child's  love  of  babble,  through  which  he  developed  his  ability  to 
utter  the  sounds  of  his  native  language.  In  the  second  group  will  be 
found  alliterative  sentences  for  the  use  of  older  children  and  adults. 
Many  of  these  sentences  may  be  used  in  connection  with  vocabulary 
building,  as  they  may  be  accompanied  by  pantomime. 

It  is  not  expected  that  all  the  exercises,  or  any  entire  exercise,  will 
be  used  for  a  class;  but  a  variety  of  drills  on  each  sound  is  offered  in 
the  hope  that  each  teacher  may  find  something  to  meet  the  needs  of  her 
particular  class.  For  instance,  the  Chinese  will  need  drill  for  final 
p,  and  the  Japanese  for  f,  but  not  final  p ;  Italians  have  no  difficulty 
with  final  p  nor  f,  but  can  not  pronounce  h,  which  gives  no  difficulty 
to  either  Chinese  or  Japanese. 

Mirrors  should  be  used  with  all  the  articulation  drills,  even  for  the 
younger  children. 


English  Pronunciation 
EXERCISES  FOR  LITTLE  CHILDREN 

th 

Drum  game.  To  interest  the  children  in  the  sound,  use  a  drum;  as 
you  beat  it,  say  that  the  drum  says :  thump,  thump,  thump,  etc.  Show 
the  children  how  you  make  the  sound ;  even  little  children  are  interested 
in  seeing  their  tongues  in  a  mirror.  When  the  child  has  succeeded  in 
forming  the  sound  correctly,  let  him  beat  the  drum,  saying  meanwhile 
with  you  ^thurnp,  thump,  etc. 

Repeat  the  th  rhythm,  with  music  if  you  have  a  piano,  the  children 
beating  imaginary  drums.  See  page  27. 

Thumb  game.     A  finger  play.     See  page  27. 

This  is  not  the  same  game  as  "Simon  says"  etc.  The  object  is  the 
correct  utterance  of  the  sounds  and  the  association  of  the  words  with 
their  meaning.  Let  the  child  who  can  pronounce  the  words  well  act 
as  leader.  The  words:  thumb,  up,  down  should  be  accompanied  by 
effective  motions. 

Note:  In  the  devising  of  games  for  articulation  drills,  most  valuable 
aid  was  given  by  Miss  Nina  Kenagy,  of  the  San  Francisco  State  Teach 
ers  College,  and  Miss  Evlyn  Chastene  of  Oakland. 

Monkey  game.     A  monkey  is  a  fascinating  object  to  children  and  a 
toy  monkey  will  do  wonders  in  loosening  tongues.     For  articulation 
purposes  we  will  suppose  that  monkey  chatter  contains  many  th  sounds, 
and  we  will  have  the  monkey  talk  to  the  children  using  nonsense  sylla 
bles  with  the  simple  vowels  a,  e,  i,  o,  u.     Let  the  monkey  call  on  each 
child,  chattering  monkey  talk,  while  the  child  is  encouraged  to  answer 
back  in  kind.     There  will  ensue  a  dialogue  something  like  this : 
Monkey:  Tha,  tha,  tha,  the. 
Child:        The,  the,  the,  tho,  etc. 
Tha,  the,  tho,  thum ; 
This  is  my  hand, 
And  this  is  my  thumb. 
Outh,  ath,  ith,  eeth ; 
This  is  my  mouth, 
And  these  are  my  teeth. 
All  nationalities  need  th  drills. 

h 

Blowing  exercise:     Blow  against  the  hand,  audibly. 

Laughing  exercise :  Ha,  ha,  ha,  ha ! 
He,  he,  he,  he! 
Ho,  ho,  ho,  ho! 
Ha,  ha,  ha,  hoo,  hoo,  hoo! 

I  have  two  hands, 
So  have  you. 


for  Foreigners  19 

Ha,  ha,  ha,  hi,  hi,  hi ! 
You  have  one  head, 
So  have  I. 

Ha,  Ha,  Ha,  he,  he,  he ! 
She  has  brown  hair, 
So  has  he,  etc.,  etc. 
Italians,  Portuguese,  Spanish. 

f,v 

Blowing  exercise:     With  upper  teeth  placed  on  lower  lip,  hold  a 
slip  of  paper  before  the  mouth  and  utter:  fa,  fa,  fa,  fa! 

fe,  fe,  fe,  fe ! 
fo,  fo,  fo,  fo !  etc. 
For  Valentine  Day :         Vo,  vo,  vo ;  vee,  vee,  vee ! 

Valentines  for  you  and  me! 
Imitation  of  aeroplane:  Voo,  voo,  voo,  etc. 

f  exercise  needed  by  Japanese ;  v  exercise  for  Spanish,  Portuguese, 
Chinese,  Japanese. 

p,  b 

Imitation  of  the  sheep :  Baa,  baa,  baa. 

Imitation  of  the  dog :  Bow,  wow,  bow,  wow. 

Imitation  of  the  bird  or  chicken:  Peep,  peep,  peep. 
Initial  b :  Spanish,  Portuguese ;  final  b :  Chinese. 
Initial  p :  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italian,  Slavs ;  final  p :  Chinese. 

t,  d 

Imitation  of  the  shoemaker  or  hammer :  Rat-a-tat-tat. 
Imitation  of  the  rain:  Pit-pat,  pit-pat. 
Imitation  of  the  horn :  Toot,  toot,  toot. 
Imitation  of  the  horse :  Trot,  trot,  trot. 

These  should  be  spoken  slowly  so  that  final  t  is  sharply  articulated. 
Initial   t:    Spanish,    Portuguese,    Italian,    Greek,    Slav,    Japanese; 
final  t :  Chinese. 

d:  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italian,  Greek,  Slav,  Japanese;  final  d: 
Chinese. 

k,g 

Imitation  of  the  hen :  Cluck,  cluck,  cluck. 

Imitation  of  the  dove :  Coo,  coo,  coo. 

Imitation  of  the  duck:  Quack,  quack,  quack. 

Imitation  of  the  automobile:  Chug,  chug,  chug. 

Imitation  of  the  tiger :  Gurr,  gurr,  gurr. 
Initial  k :  Spanish,  Italian,  Portuguese ;  final  k :  Chinese. 
Initial  g:  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Greek;  final  g:  Chinese,  Japanese. 

ng 

Ding,  dong,  ding,  dong, 

Ding  dong  bell,     (rig  to  be  held  so  that  it  dies  away  gradually), 
Italians,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Slavs, 


English  Pronunciation 

wh,  w 

Imitation  of  the  wind:  Woo,  woo,  woo. 

Imitation  of  the  dog :  Bow  wow,  bow,  wow. 

Imitation  of  the  little  pig :  Wee,  wee,  wee. 

Driving  the  horse :  Whoa,  whoa, 
wh :  all  nationalities, 
w :  Slavs,  though  occasionally  other  nationalities  need  help  with  w. 

1 

la,  la,  la,  la,  le,  le,  etc.,  used  as  the  chorus  of  a  familiar  song. 
Japanese,  Chinese. 


Imitation  of  the  bird  :  Chiree,  chiree,  chiree. 
Salutation  of  the  flag:  Hurrah,  hurrah. 
All  nationalities,  especially  Chinese,  Japanese. 

S,  z 

Peanut  wagon  game.     Adaptation  of  "Do  you  know  the  Muffin 
?'[     "Do  you  know  the  peanut  man,  that  drives  the  little  cart," 

with  hissing  chorus. 

Imitation  of  the  bee:  Zum,  zum,  zum. 
Drills  to  overcome  lisping,   but  may  be  needed  by  Chinese  and 

Japanese. 

sh,  zh,  (azure) 

sh,  sh,  sh,  sh.     A  hushing  drill. 
Chinese  often  need  the  drill. 


Imitation  of  train:  Choo,  choo,  choo. 
Imitation  of  automobile:  Chug,  chug,  chug. 
Jumping  Jack  game  :  Jumping  Jack,  jump  ! 

Jump,  jump,  jump  ! 

Rhythm  for  jumping  rope:  Jump,  jump,  jumpity,  jump.  The 
rhythm  to  be  repeated  by  children,  as  one  jumps  the  rope.  (To 
avoid  the  use  of  ch  for  j,  the  words  should  be  articulated  gently). 

Most  nationalities  have  difficulty  with  final  j  ;  Portuguese  with  j  in 
all  positions. 


VOWELS 

Little  children  seldom  need  special  articulation  drills  for  vowels. 
They  will  usually  be  able  to  imitate  the  vowel  quite  successfully  if 
they  hear  them  distinctly  and  repeatedly  uttered.  Attention  to  the 
shape  and  tensity  of  the  lips  will  help  the  teacher  to  understand  the 
child's  difficulties. 


for  Foreigners  21 

If  vowels  are  too  short,  the  teacher  may  show  by  motions  of  her 
hand  how  they  are  to  be  prolonged.  In  cas.es  where  drills  for  vowels 
seem  necessary,  the  teacher  can  make  use  of  the  animal  cries  and 
natural  sounds,  as  in  the  following  examples: 

Imitation  of  the  hen :  cluck,  cluck. 

Imitation  of  the  cat :  purr,  purr. 

Imitation  of  the  rain:  pit-pat,  pit-pat. 

Imitation  of  the  crow :  caw,  caw. 

Laughing  exercise :  ho,  ho,  ho. 


EXERCISES  I^OK  OLDEI:  CHILDREN  AND  ADULTS 

th 

With  mirror  in  hand  and  tongue  carefully  placed,  practice  the 
articulation  of  both  forms  of  th  with  the  different  vowels,  at  first 
not  in  words  but  in  simple  syllables,  using  the  vowels  in  art,  be,  day, 
go,  too.  Then  use  them  in  such  common  words  as  these,  those,  thick, 
thin.  When  th  is  mastered  as  an  initial  sound,  practice  in  the  same 
way  final  th  with  the  vowels  as  in  teeth,  tooth,  mouth,  and  then  put 
them  into  words.  Finally  use  th  between  vowels  as  in  father,  mother, 
brother. 

Thump,  thoughtful  thumb, 

Thump  on  your  drum! 

Thump,  thump,  thump. 

Thirty  thousand  thoughtful  boys 
Thought  they'd  make  a  thundering  noise; 
So  with  thirty  thousand  thumbs 
They  thumped  on  thirty  thousand  drums. 

Put  your  thimble  on  your  thumb. 

Thread  three  thin  needles. 

Father  and  mother  are  with  their  other  brother. 

This  thief  has  thirty  teeth  in  his  mouth. 

All  nationalities. 


Let  the  pupil  hold  a  slip  of  paper  before  his  lips,  which  should  be 
blown  from  them  every  time  h  is  articulated. 

Here  are  his  hands,  here  is  his  head,  here  is  his  hair. 

Here  is  his  high  hat. 

He  has  his  hat  in  his  hand. 

Hurry,  her  husband  has  hurt  his  heel. 

Henry  has  hidden  his  hammer  behind  her  house. 

Spanish,  Italian,  Portuguese. 


Englis  h  Pro  n  u  n  cia  tio  n 


The  pupil  should  use  the  mirror,  to  be  sure  that  the  upper  teeth  are 
resting  on  the  lower  lip. 

Friday  Frank  fed  five  fish  fish-food. 

Feel  the  flag  with  five  fingers. 

My  very  best  vest  of  blue  velvet. 

Ben's  wife  found  five  very  beautiful  blue  violets. 

The  boy  has  four  felt  hats  and  five  fat  hens. 

We  have  very  few  warm  woolen  vests. 

Japanese  need  drill  for  f  ;  Japanese  and  Chinese  for  v  ;  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  the  exercises  containing  v  and  b. 

p,  b 

Use  mirror  to  be  sure  that  lips  are  completely  closed  for  b;  with 
paper  held  before  lips,  test  the  explosion  of  final  p,  b  ;  also  the  little 
puff  of  breath  which  follows  initial  p  before  a  vowel. 

Bobby  blows  beautiful  big  bubbles. 

Bounce  the  big  blue  ball. 

Spin  the  pretty  top. 

Pick  up  the  piece  of  paper. 

I  baked  seven  loaves  of  bread. 

He  bought  a  very  big  vest. 

Stop  at  the  shop,  buy  a  cap  and  a  top. 

I  can  peel  the  pears  and  the  plums. 

Peter  Piper  picked  a  peck  of  pickled  peppers. 

b  :  Spanish,  Portuguese  ;  they  need  also  drill  on  words  containing  b 
and  v. 

p  :  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italian,  Slav  ;  final  p,  b  :  Chinese. 

t,  d 

Test  explosion  of  final  t,  d  by  slip  of  paper  held  before  lips;  also 
the  puff  of  breath  to  follow  t  before  a  vowel. 

Tom  took  ten  little  tops. 

Two  times  ten  equals  twenty. 

Today  is  Tuesday. 

Dick's  dinner  cost  two  dimes. 

The  dog  stands  beside  the  bed. 

Put  a  red  bead  on  the  table. 

The  cat  caught  a  fat  rat. 

The  golden  poppies  are  faded  already. 

I  have  hidden  the  reader  under  the  desk. 
t,  d  :  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italian,  Slav  ;  final  t,  d  :  Chinese. 

k,g     ;;  £':;;,        ( 

Test  explosion  of  final  consonant  by  slip  of  paper  held  before  lips  ; 
also  of  puff  of  breath  following  k  before  vowel. 


for  Foreigners  23 

My  coffee  is  cold ;  I  can  not  drink  it. 
The  cow  gives  milk. 

Walk  quickly  to  the  desk  and  back  again. 
Go  and  get  Maggie's  big  glass  and  give  it  to  Gns. 
Our  cook  bakes  cake  and  cookies  in  our  kitchen. 
The  cuckoo  clock  strikes  six. 
The  green  grass  grows  in  the  garden. 
The  pig  ate  a  big  bag  of  figs. 

k,  g:  Spanish,  Italian,  Portuguese,  Slav;  final  k,  g:  Chinese;  final  g: 
Japanese. 

ng 

Bring  me  a  long,  strong  piece  of  string. 
He  is  putting  a  ring  on  his  ring  finger. 
The  singer  was  singing  a  long,  long  song. 
Seeing  is  believing. 

Something  is  crawling  along  on  the  ceiling. 
Slavs,  Spanish,  Italians,  Portuguese,  Japanese. 

wh,  w 

Use  mirror  to  make  sure  that  the  lips  are  closely  rounded ;  test  wh 
by  holding  slip  of  paper  before  the  lips. 

One  by  one  the  women  went  to  work. 

We  will  wash  and  wipe  the  wet  windows  with  warm  water. 

The  worm  works  its  way  well  into  the  wood. 

Where  is  the  whistle  which  I  whittled? 

I  wonder  whether  the  weather  will  be  warm. 

Whistle  while  you  walk. 

Slavs,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italians,  Japanese,  for  w;  all  nationali 
ties  for  wh. 

i 

Bat  the  ball  against  the  wall. 
Lily  lost  Lottie's  large  yellow  lemon. 
Light  the  lamp  and  learn  your  lesson. 
The  fly  flew  from  the  flower  into  the  flame. 
Please  do  not  play  with  the  plums  on  the  plate. 
On  the  blind  man's  blanket  was  a  black  blot. 
Class,  clap  your  clean  hands,  then  clasp  them. 
This  book  case  has  twelve  shelves. 
Eleven  little  beetles  crawled  into  a  hole. 
I  belong  to  a  long-lived  family. 
Chinese,  Japanese ;  most  nationalities  for  final  1. 

Note:  To  prepare  for  drills  for  consonant  blends  with  1,  practice 
first  the  syllable  without  the  initial  consonant:  lay,  lay,  play;  lass, 
lass,  class;  lot,  lot,  blot. 


English  Pronunciation 


The  robin  and  the  wren  ran  a  race. 

Eaise  your  right  hand  and  rap  on  the  door. 

Father,  mother,  brother  and  sister  are  writing  letters. 

The  water  that  Robert  was  drinking  dripped  on  her  dress. 

On  Friday,  Frank  and  his  friend  will  fry  fresh  fish. 

The  railroad  train  runs  on  the  track. 

I  trimmed  three  trees  for  Christmas. 
All  nationalities,  especially  Chinese,  Japanese. 
Note:  To  prepare  for  drills  for  consonant  blends  with  r,  practice 
first  the  syllable  without  the  initial  consonant:  rink,  rink,  drink; 
rain,  rain,  train. 

s,  z 

I  saw  the  sun  set  this  evening  at  half  past  six. 
Strawberries  are  sweet  in  summer. 
Sam  Smith  has  six  small  sisters. 

One  Sunday  in  summer  I  saw  seven  sisters  swimming  in  the  sea. 
He  struck  the  horse  with  a  strong  strap. 
Boys,  take  your  pencils  in  your  hands  and  close  your  eyes. 
Chinese,  Japanese;  most  nationalities  have  the  tendency  to  use  s 
for  final  z,  making  eyes  sound  like  ice,  etc. 

sh,  zh,  as  in  azure 
She  has  sharp  shears. 
Show  me  your  shoes. 
She  sees  the  ship  sailing  on  the  sea. 
She  bought  shirts  and  shoes  at  a  shop. 
Across  the  ocean  are  many  great  nations. 
Treasures  beyond  measure  lie  buried  in  the  n/ure  ocean. 
Chinese,  Japanese,  Spanish,  Scandinavians. 

<*,  j 

The  child  has  chalk  on  his  chin. 

Scratch  the  match  on  a  chair. 

Chickens  are  cheap  in  China. 

This  is  my  cheek  and  this  is  my  chin. 

John  has  a  job  on  the  bridge. 

In  June  Julia  will  take  a  long  journey. 

Jane  made  a  jar  of  jam  and  a  jar  of  jelly. 

Japanese  for  ch;  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Japanese,  for  j ;  all  nationali 
ties  have  the  tendency  to  use  ch  for  final  j,  ridge  sounding  like  rich, 
etc. 

Note:  If  j  is  uttered  with  much  force,  it  tends  to  become  ch,  so 
pupils  who  have  this  difficulty  should  be  taught  to  pronounce  the 
sound  gently.  It  may  help  to  practice  this  exercise. 

de,  de,  de,  de. 

zhe,  zhe,  zhe,  zhe. 

.ie,  je,  je,  je. 


for  Foreigners  25 

VOWELS 

Vowels  are  best  taught  by  contrast  with  familiar  sounds.  In  all 
languages  occur  vowels  corresponding  to  those  in  la,  let,  leap,  loss, 
loose.  In  Spanish,  Japanese,  Czech,  there  occur  only  these  five  vowels. 
If  the  foreigner  is  shown  the  relation  of  the  new  vowels  to  his  native 
sounds,  he  can  more  easily  recognize  their  peculiar  quality. 

Vowels  may  be  arranged  in  an  ascending  scale,  illustrative  of  the 
increasing  height  of  the  tongue,  and  the  varying  position  of  the  high 
est  point.  Diagram  6  shows  what  part  of  the  tongue  is  raised  and 
how  high  it  is  raised  during  the  utterance  of  the  different  English 
vowels.  The  location  of  the  vowel  in  the  diagram  corresponds  roughly 
to  the  position  of  the  highest  part  of  the  tongue  during  the  articula 
tion  of  that  vowel. 

£0/7 


PIG.  6.  Before  the  mirror,  practice  these  vowels  in  pairs,  careful  attention  being 
given  to  the  change  of  lip  shape,  which  will  be  accompanied  by  a  corresponding  tongue 
position  which  can  not  be  so  easily  seen. 

Before  the  mirror,  practice  these  vowels  in  pairs,  careful  attention 
being  given  to  the  change  of  lip  shape,  which  will  be  accompanied 
by  a  corresponding  tongue  position  which  can  not  be  so  easily  seen. 

calm,  come,  come,  calm.  In  passing  from  the  first  vowel  to 

psalm,  some,  some,  psalm.       the  second,  the  lips  are  more  closed, 
balm,  bum,  bum,  balm.  contracted     at     the     corners,     the 

tongue  rises  in  the  middle. 

barn,  burn,  burn,  barn.  In   passing   from   first  vowel  to 

far,  fur,  fur,  far.  second,  lips  are  tensed,  contracted 

star,  stir,  stir,  star.  at  corner  and  more  closed,  tongue 

is  tensed  and  raised  in  middle. 

bud,  bird,  bird,  bud.  In    passing    from    first    vowel    to 

hut,  hurt,  hurt,  hut.  second,    lips    and    tongue    tensed; 

shut,  shirt,  shirt,  shut.  lip     shape     and     tongue     position 

almost  the  same  for  both. 


26  English  Pronunciation 

are,  all,  all,  are.  In   passing   from   first  vowel  to 

far,  fall,  fall,  far.  second,  lips  are  more  closed,  corner 

car,  call,  call,  car.  of  lips  contracted,  tongue  is  pulled 

back  and  back  of  tongue  raised. 

bought,  boat,  boat,  bought.  In  passing  from  first  vowel  to 
caught,  coat,  coat,  caught,  second,  lips  are  rounded  and  more 
ball,  bowl,  bowl,  ball.  closed,  tongue  is  pulled  back,  and 

raised  higher  and  farther  back. 

far,  fat,  fat,  far.  In   passing   from  first   vowel  to 

car,  cat,  cat,  car.  second,    lips   more    closed,    highest 

psalm,  Sam,  Sam,  psalm.         part  of  tongue  father  forward, 
bed,  bad,  bad,  bed.  In   passing  from   first  vowel  to 

set,  sat,  sat,  set.  second,  lips  open  slightly,  elevated 

men,  man,  man,  men.  part  of  tongue  moves  forward  and 

lower. 

sheep,  ship,  ship,  sheep.  In   passing   from   first  vowel   to 

deep,  dip,  dip,  deep.  second,  lips  and  tongue  relax;  lip 

deed,  did,  did,  deed.  shape     and     tongue     position     are 

almost  the  same  for  both. 

SONGS  FOR  ARTICULATION  DRILLS 

Songs  may  be  used  very  effectually  as  articulation  drills.  Through 
the  melody  and  rhythm  the  exercise  loses  its  "drill"  character  and 
the  children  repeat  the  syllables  with  enjoyment.  If  in  connection 
with  the  song  other  muscular  activities  are  devised,  such  as  beating 
an  imaginary  drum  for  number  3,  raising  and  lowering  the  thumbs  for 
•4,  going  through  the  motions  of  ringing  the  bell  for  7,  etc.,  the 
management  of  the  tongue  will  be  perceptibly  freer.  Also  if  after 
singing  the  song  once,  the  children  are  allowed  to  run  or  dance  or 
"fly"  about  the  room,  as  the  case  may  be,  to  the  accompaniment  of 
the  melody  of  the  song,  they  will  sing  it  much  better  when  they 
return  to  their  places. 

The  following  songs  in  familiar  children's  song  books  are  sug 
gested  as  good  material  for  articular  drills. 

Baker  and  Kohlsaat,  Songs  for  Little  Children.     Abingdon  Press. 

Tape 

Little  Chickens 7  Exercise  for  p. 

Snow  Birds 7  Exercise  for  t. 

The  Canary 16  Exercise  for  ch,  r. 

Raindrops 34  Exercise  for  t,  p. 

Firemen 48  Exercise  for  ng. 

Children  Playing 57  Exercise  for  ng. 

Jones  and  Barbour,  Child  Land  in  Song  and  Rhythm.  Schmidt, 
Boston. 

Page 

Robin  Redbreast 15  Exercise  for  ch,  r. 

Sparrows 16  Exercise  for  t. 

Chicks 20  Exercise  for  p. 

The  Bells__  37  Exercise  for  ng. 


for  Foreigners  27 

Words  to  the  Songs 

V  -  th.     Little  Monkey  in  the  Tree. 

Little  monkey  in  the  tree, 
This  is  what  he  says  to  me. 
Tha,  tha,  tha,  the,  the,  the, 
Tha,  tha,  the ! 

Little  monkey  shows  his  teeth. 
Hear  him  chatter,  eeth,  eeth,  .eeth! 
Outh,  outh,  outh,  eeth,  eeth,  eeth, 
Outh,  outh,  eeth! 

III  -  th.     Drum  Rhythm. 

Thumpity,  thumpity,  thump,  thump,  thump, 
Thumpity,  thumpity,  thump,  thump,  thump, 
Thumpity,  thumpity,  thump,  thump,  thump, 
Thumpity,  thumpity,  thump,  thump,  thump, 
Thumpity,  thumpity,  thump,  thump,  thump, 
Thumpity,  thumpity,  thump. 

IV  -  th.     Thumbs  Up. 

Thumbs  up,  thumbs  down, 
Thumbs  up,  thumbs  down, 
Thumbs  up,  thumbs  down, 
Thumbs  are  down. 

II  -  s.     Song  of  the  Teakettle. 

The  teakettle  sits  on  the  stove,  s-s, 
And  sings  a  gay  little  song,  s-s, 

S S-S-S-,    S S-S-S-,    S ,    S ,    S. 

VI  -  h.     All  the  Children  Laugh  with  Glee. 

All  the  children  laugh  with  glee ; 
Ha,  ha,  ha,  he,  he,  he! 
Open  mouths  and  smiling  so, 
Ha,  ha,  ha,  ho,  ho,  ho ! 

I  -  k.     Clock  Song. 

The  little  clock  stands  on  a  shelf  in  its  place. 
Tick,  tock,  tick,  tock. 

Has  little  black  hands  and  a  little  white  face, 
Tick,  tock,  tick ! 

VII  -  ng.     Bell  Song. 

Hear  the  bell  ring,  ting-a-ling-a-ling ! 
Ding  dong,  ding,  dong,  ting-a-ling-a-ling ! 
Hear  the  bells  ring,  ting-a-ling-a-ling! 
Ding,  dong,  ding! 

VIII  -  v.     Valentine  Song. 

Valentine,  valentine, 
Oh !  My  pretty  valentine  ! 
Red  and  blue,  yellow  too, 


28 

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